HC Deb 16 February 1988 vol 127 cc543-4W
Mr. Vaz

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many staff are currently employed at the public inquiry office at Lunar House, Croydon; and how many of these speak(a) Gujarati, (b) Punjabi, (c) Urdu, and (d) Hindi.

Mr. Renton

There are currently 90 staff employed in the immigration public inquiry office at Lunar House, of whom four speak one or more of these languages. Three speak Gujarati; one speaks Punjabi; three speak Urdu and three speak Hindi. A further six staff are employed in the nationality public inquiry office, one of whom speaks all four languages.

Mr. Vaz

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many hours were worked as overtime by employees at the public inquiry office at Lunar House, Croydon for each year from 1984 to 1987 and to the latest available date in the current year; and what was the total cost of this overtime.

Mr. Renton

The number of hours worked as overtime by staff in the immigration public inquiry office at Lunar House are set out in the table. The estimated cost of the overtime for the period is £150,000.

Hours
1984 2,885
1985 8,578
1986 6,827
1987 9,279
1988 to 22 January 928

As regards the nationality public inquiry office, no overtime was worked in the years 1984 to 1986. In 1987, 428 hours overtime was worked, at an estimated cost of £2,526. So far in 1988, 12 hours overtime has been worked, at an estimated cost of £80.