§ Mr. Tony Lloydasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how long on average an applicant for political asylum can expect to wait (a) before receiving a decision after an interview and (b) before an application for interview is granted.
§ Mr. WaddingtonI regret that the information is not available in the form requested. Interviews of applicants for asylum may be conducted throughout the country; the waiting time for such interviews at the Public Inquiry office at Croydon is currently about 12 weeks.
As regards the overall time taken to decide asylum applications, I would refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave to a question from the hon. Member for Leyton (Mr. Cohen) on 18 November at column 10.