§ Mr. Corbynasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many entry clearance officers are currently in post in (a) Accra, (b) Lagos, (c) Kaduna, (d) New Delhi, (e) Bombay, (f) Madras, (g) Islamabad, (h) Karachi, (i) Dhaka and (j) Colombo; what is the full complement of entry clearance officers for each of these posts; how many of these were added in order to deal with the extra work that the compulsory visa requirement entails; and what is the (a) total cost of the entry clearance staff and (b) cost arising as a result of extra staff as a result of the visa requirement at these posts, respectively.
§ Mr. EggarA number of temporary entry clearance officers are being replaced this month and additional staff are being deployed to cope with the seasonal increase in applications. The table indicates the number of entry clearance officers expected to be in post as at 1 May 1987, the full complement of entry clearance officers, and the additional entry clearance officers deployed since the visa regimes were announced:
ECOs in post as at 1 May 1987 Full ECO complement Extra ECOs added since 1986 Accra 2 3 2 Lagos 14 18 15 Kaduna 3 3 2 New Delhi 215 113 8 Bombay 11 11 6 Madras 2 2 2 Islamabad 420 25 8 Karachi 7 7 6 Dhaka 19 21 5 Colombo 4 4 30 1 Plus two temporary staff during summer. 2 Plus two leaving 8 May 1987. 3 Two ECOs were added to the complement in May 1985. 4 Plus five arriving by mid-May. The total gross running cost of the entry clearance operation in these posts for the current financial year is expected to be £19,652,400, of which £13,775,100 is for costs incurred from providing extra staff (including ECOs).