HL Deb 31 March 1980 vol 407 cc1250-1WA
Lord AVEBURY

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether they will commission a study by management consultants of the decline in productivity of the staff engaged in processing applications for citizenship of the United Kingdom and Colonies, and particularly of the sharp fall in the number of applications processed by each officer between 1975 and 1976; and whether they would also ask the consultants to report on the improvements which could be expected if only objective tests were applied, as suggested in the Green Paper of April 1977.

Lord BELSTEAD

As already announced by my honourable friend the Minister of State for the Civil Service Department, there will be a departmental scrutiny under the guidance of Sir Derek Rayner into the handling of applications for citizenship of the United Kingdom and Colonies.

The Government would not wish to anticipate the results of the scrutiny, but the rate of processing of applications has been affected by a number of factors, including changes in the relevant legislation.