§ Mr. John Carlisleasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what progress has been made in the past 12 months in the computerisation of records of visitors admitted for fixed periods; whether this system is now used to identify overstayers; what is the present procedure of his Department in this connection; and whether he anticipates any further improvements in these procedures in the near future.
§ Mr. RaisonA computer system which replaced the earlier manual system for matching the landing and embarkation cards completed by passengers subject to immigration control has been in operation in the immigration and nationality department since 1 August 1980. The purpose remains to indicate when an individual has remained here after the expiry of his permitted stay. Where the computer identifies an apparent overstayer, follow-up inquiries are made in the normal way.
Although the system has been in operation for about 18 months, experience to date has revealed a number of areas where improvements might be made in the system's performance. Work on a number of improvements is in hand and others are under consideration. For that reason the system must be regarded as still being under development.