§ Mr. SayeedTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will give the cost to his Department of the immigration appeals system for the last five years.
§ Mr. EggarIt is not possible to isolate or apportion the cost of the immigration appeals system within the overall cost of the entry clearance operation overseas since the staff concerned spend varying amounts of their time on appeal-related work.
However, the appeals system has significant manpower implications. A recent exercise undertaken in respect of visit appeals only showed that, in the Diplomatic Service, an estimated 53.5 United Kingdom based man-years are taken up by the preparation of explanatory statements plus the need for more in-depth interviews and note-taking at a conservative estimated cost of around £5 million.