Immigration Appeals (Hansard, 19 October 1988)

§ Mr. David Young
To ask the Attorney-General how many refusals of visitor visas have gone to immigration appeals; what were the outcomes of such appeals; and what is the total cost of such proceedings.

§ The Solicitor-General
Appeals against refusal of applications for visitor visas are not recorded separately, but are recorded together with appeals against refusal of applications by foreign students for temporary entrance clearance. In the period 1 January to 31 August 1988 a total of 3,277 separate appeals in this category were received by the adjudicators and 28 by the immigration appeal tribunal. Because of the way in which statistics are recorded by the appellate authorities, it is not possible to show the outcome of appeals received within any particular period. However, between 1 January and 31 August 1988, a total of 1,226 appeals against refusal of applications for visitors' visas and from foreign students were disposed of by the adjudicators of which 302 were allowed, 656 dismissed and 268 withdrawn; and 65 appeals were disposed of by the appeal tribunal of which 19 were allowed, 25 dismissed and 21 were considered to be outside the tribunal's jurisdiction.
It is not possible to distinguish accurately the total cost of dealing with particular categories of appeal. This information could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

§ Mr. David Young
To ask the Attorney-General what is the average cost of holding an immigration appeal hearing.

§ The Solicitor-General
The Lord Chancellor is responsible for the administration of the immigration appellate authorities. It is not possible from current records to give a precise average cost for an immigration appeal hearing. However, in the calendar year 1987, a total of 9,943 appeals were dealt with by the immigration appellate authorities. The total cost of the appellate authorities in the financial year 1987–88 (the first full financial year in which the Lord Chancellor had responsibility for the IAAs' administration) was £2,411,088. From this information it would be possible to state as an informed, but not precise, estimate that the average cost of dealing with an appeal was of the order of £240.
It is estimated that in the same period hearings outnumbered appeals by approximately 20 per cent.