§ Mr. Tony LloydTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the speed at which entry clearance cases are now being dealt with when referred to his Department.
§ Mr. RentonEntry clearance applications may be referred to the immigration and nationality department808W either for further inquiries to enable the entry clearance officer to reach a decision or for the department to take a decision. In all cases, applications are dealt with as promptly as possible although the need to make inquiries and the volume of work arising from these and on other applications to the Home Office are unavoidable sources of delay. Accordingly, remedies have to be sought not only in respect of entry clearance cases themselves but also in reducing nugatory work wherever possible elsewhere in the control system in order to free resources to be applied to what work remains. Against that background, the following measures are in train or have been taken.
Many referred entry clearance applications require the sponsors in the United Kingdom to be interviewed. These interviews are carried out by the immigration service and, depending on seasonal commitments at the ports, have been subject to delay. Arrangements are now in hand to streamline the handling of interview requirements to smooth out delays so far as practicable by securing a better balance between interview requests to the immigration service and their available manpower. The objective remains of carrying out interviews within three months of receipt of papers in the United Kingdom.
We are also introducing on a phased basis arrangements giving entry clearance officers abroad greater delegated authority to decide entry clearance applications locally. We expect that these new arrangements will be fully in place by January 1990 and will make an important contribution to expediting decisions.
More generally, the Government have taken a number of steps to seek to improve the time taken to process all applications handled by the Department. We introduced immigration rules changes in February 1988 to reduce the amount of nugatory work carried out by the Department and to free resources for resolving essential applications. Wider advertising, improved procedures and the recruitment of part-timers have helped the staffing situation considerably in recent months. Since 1988, a net additional total of 136 staff has been recruited. We are also introducing wherever possible improved working procedures to ensure that applications are processed as promptly as possible.
We believe that, taken together, these initiatives in the United Kingdom and abroad will significantly improve the overall quality of service including directly or indirectly to entry clearance applicants. Their effect will be kept under review.