§ Miss Richardsonasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what changes he has made or intends to make, following recent legal decisions, in the practice of his Department regarding immigration cases involving persons given limited leave to enter under the Immigration Act 1971 whose applications for an extension of stay are refused; and whether he proposes to consult with organisations advising affected applicants;
(2) what action he proposes to take in the case of persons given limited leave to enter or remain under the Immigration Act 1971 whose applications for an extension of stay have been refused and who were informed by his Department that they had a right of appeal, but who are now found, following recent legal decisions, to have no right of appeal; and what is the estimated number of such cases;
(3) what action he proposes to take to ensure that all persons given limited leave to enter or remain under the Immigration Act 1971 are aware of changes in the practice of his Department in the treatment of applications for an extension of stay and appeals against refusal.
§ Dr. SummerskillMy right hon. Friend is urgently considering the implications of the decision in the case of Regina v. The Immigration Appeal Tribunal ex parte Jayaratnam Suthendran from which, although the detailed reasons of the Appellate Committee are awaited, it is apparent that only a person who has a concurrent limited leave to enter or remain in the United Kingdom under the Immigration Act 1971 may appeal to an adjudicator under Section 14(1) of the Act. Joint representations from several organisations concerned with immigrants about the implications of this judgment 905W have been received and are receiving full consideration.
The number of people currently affected by the judgment is estimated to be about 3,000, of whom some 1,250 applied for variations after the limited leave expired. My right hon. Friend accepts that it is not satisfactory that people who applied for variations during the currency of a limited leave may lose appeal rights because of the time needed to consider their cases. He is considering remedies but is not yet in a position to announce his conclusions.
The need for special advice about appeal rights to people given limited leave to enter or remain under the Act of 1971 is being examined as part of our review of the effects of the decision.
§ Mr. Carmichaelasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will publish in theOfficial Report a list for the latest available year, of immigration into the United Kingdom by British citizens and aliens by country of origin and the number of work permits issued to foreign subjects analysed by country of origin.
§ Dr. SummerskillThe available information has already been published in Tables 2, 3 and 4 of Cmnd. 6504—Control of Immigration: Statistics, 1975—and in pages 478 and 479 of the Department of Employment Gazette for May 1976.