HC Deb 09 February 1988 vol 127 c136W
Mr. Vaz

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many unopened items of mail were held at Lunar house, Croydon, as at 21 January.

Mr. Renton

The number of unopened items of mail, and those opened for the extraction of fees but not yet acknowledged, on 21 January 1988 was approximately 200,000. Vigorous steps are being taken to deal with this backlog, the prime reason for which is the very large number of applications for registration as British citizens received before the deadline of 31 December 1987.