HC Deb 10 July 1990 vol 176 cc122-33W
Mr. Andrew Smith

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list for each of the contracts awarded by his Department to management consultants on which work is currently in progress(a) when they started, (b) when they are expected to be completed and (c) their cost.

Mr. Waddington

Information about contract costs still extant is a matter of commercial confidentiality which it would not be proper to disclose. The details of contracts with management consultants on which work is currently in progress are as follows:

Directly addressed items reach caseworkers the same day. At the Liverpool nationality office letters are opened and passed to caseworkers within 24 hours.

Mr. Vaz

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what percentage of applicants for naturalisation, registration or immigration die before a decision is made on their case.

Mr. Peter Lloyd

This information is not available.

Mr. Vaz

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how long it takes for 100 letters to be opened at Lunar house and the nationality department at Liverpool.

Mr. Peter Lloyd

On average it takes each of the 20 staff in the Lunar house post room engaged on this work five minutes to open, date, stamp, check contents, identify any omissions, remove any valuables, prepare acknowledgement and route one item to its next destination. No information is available for correspondence opening averages in the Liverpool nationality office.

Mr. Vaz

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many cases of naturalisation, registration or immigration can be dealt with concurrently within the same office.

Mr. Peter Lloyd

It is not possible to provide any such estimate.

1990. Mr. Vaz

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what was the number of letters received at Lunar house, Croydon, and the nationality department at Liverpool on the first day of each month for(a) 1988, (b) 1989 and (c)

Mr. Peler Lloyd

Following is the information:

Letters received and opened in IND post room, Lunar house
1988 1989 1990
January 11,716 1,394 1,496
February 11,846 1,577 1,846
March 11,964 1,647 1,532
April 1,357 1,783 1,489
May 1,198 1,688 1,549
June 1,586 1,395 1,577
July 1,326 1,310 1,528
August 1,662 1,661
September 1,372 1,711
October 1,957 1,999
November 2,099 2,057
December 1,398 1,464
1 These figures do not include an estimated 14,044 applications received in the first quarter of 1988 which, because of the then backlog were not counted on a daily basis.

Notes:

The table does not include letters addressed to individuals, rooms or groups which currently average 1,400 per day. These are not opened in the post room but redirected on receipt to the addressee.

The information requested is not available in respect of the Liverpool nationality office.

Mr. Vaz

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will give the percentage of all cases where the applicant for naturalisation, immigration or registration is between the ages of one and five years, and every interval of five years through 80 years.

Mr. Peter Lloyd

The only readily available information relates to applicants for citizenship whose dates of birth are recorded on the nationality division computer. The number of applicants for citizenship in each age band, expressed as a percentage of the number of outstanding citizenship applications is as follows:

Age band years percentage
1 to 5 2.3
6 to 10 3.9
11 to 15 4.9
16 to 20 6.2

Age band years percentage
21 to 25 8.0
26 to 30 14.2
31 to 35 17.1
36 to 40 14.2
41 to 45 10.0
46 to 50 6.1
51 to 55 4.5
56 to 60 3.3
61 to 65 2.4
66 to 70 1.5
71 to 75 0.6
76 to 80 0.3

Mr. Corbyn

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many outstanding immigration applications there are at Lunar house; what time savings in dealing with applications from(a) students, (b) family members in the United Kingdom applying for variation of stay, (c) settlement entry clearance applications referred from overseas posts and (d) asylum-seekers have been achieved by the 1988 changes in procedures and practice; and what are the average times applicants in each category might expect to wait before a decision.

Mr. Peter Lloyd

At the end of March 1990, there were about 28,000 cases in the immigration caseworking groups, including eastern European cases, and referred entry clearance applications, the majority of which were under consideration or the subject of further inquiries and about 16,300 cases in the refugee unit.

A number of changes in procedure and practice have been introduced over the last two years in order to reduce the level of outstanding applications and reduce the time taken to process them. Information on administrative time savings as a result of these changes is not available in the form requested.

The estimated average length of time between the receipt of an application and the decision, for cases decided in caseworking groups and the public inquiry offices, in the first quarter of 1990 was two and a half months for students and nine and a half months for refugee status. Information on average waiting times for family members in the United Kingdom for variation of leave and for settlement entry clearance applications referred from overseas posts is not available.

Mr. Corbyn

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many representations he has received from hon. Members during each quarter of 1989 and the first quarter of 1990 to delay the removal of passengers refused entry at British ports of entry; and, for each period, how many representations resulted in (i) the delay of the passenger's removal for up to a week, (ii) the delay of the passenger's removal for more than a week and (iii) reversal of the immigration officer's decision.

Mr. Peter Lloyd

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to a question from the hon. Member for Nottingham, North (Mr. Allen) on 12 March at column16.

Mr. Corbyn

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many applications for(a) single entry and (b) multiple entry visit visas were (i) received, (ii) granted, (iii) refused initially and (iv) granted at appeal at each post in the Indian sub-continent, Ghana, Nigeria, Turkey and Jamaica in each quarter of 1989 and the first quarter of 1990; and what was the delay between application and interview for those whose applications were felt to need a second or long interview at each of the above posts in (1) June 1989, (2) January 1990 and (3) June 1990 or the nearest available date.

Mr. Peter Lloyd

Information on applications in Jamaica for a visit entry clearance, and separate information on applications in the other countries for single entry and multiple entry visit visas, are not available centrally. The other information requested is given in the tables.

Table 1—persons applying for a visit visa to the United Kingdom
Number of persons
Applications
Of which:
New received1 Granted Granted on appeal Refused initially
DHAKA
1989
1st quarter 2,130 1,590 4 420
2nd quarter 3,230 2,490 4 610
3rd quarter 3,460 2,720 4 650
4th quarter 2,500 1,660 4 700
Year 11,330 8,450 4 2,390
1990
1st quarter 2,260 1,500 4 620
NEW DELHI
1989
1st quarter 8,160 6,700 30 1,040
2nd quarter 17,010 14,770 50 1,620
3rd quarter 12,780 9,450 50 1,580
4th quarter 7,660 6,130 30 1,100
Year 45,620 36,960 150 5,350
1990
1st quarter 8,980 6,990 40 1,420
BOMBAY
1989
1st quarter 7,290 6,850 10 460
2nd quarter 18,050 17,070 10 830
3rd quarter 10,030 8,970 20 660
4th quarter 5,660 4,970 20 520
Year 41,030 37,860 50 2,470
1990
1st quarter 7,990 7,420 20 800
CALCUTTA
1989
1st quarter 1,110 1,090 5 20
2nd quarter 3,360 3,290 5 40
3rd quarter 2,470 2,420 4 50
4th quarter 850 820 4 30
Year 7,780 7,620 5 140
1990
1st quarter 1,160 1,110 5 30
MADRAS
1989
1st quarter 1,830 1,780 4 30
2nd quarter 4,100 4,080 4 30
3rd quarter 2,860 2,830 5 40
4th quarter 1,320 1,270 4 40
Year 10,120 9,960 5 140

Applications
Of which:
New received1 Granted Granted on appeal Refused initially
1990
1st quarter 1,930 1,900 5 40
ISLAMABAD
1989
1st quarter 6,130 4,700 10 1,240
2nd quarter 11,630 10,360 40 1,770
3rd quarter 11,700 9,180 60 2,190
4th quarter 6,970 4,730 60 1,660
Year 36,420 28,970 170 6,860
1990
1st quarter 7,770 5,100 70 1,440
KARACHI
1989
1st quarter 4,200 3,570 5 480
2nd quarter 9,680 8,710 5 700
3rd quarter 7,840 6,870 4 790
4th quarter 4,810 3,970 10 660
Year 26,530 23,120 10 2,630
1990
1st quarter 4,510 3,690 10 680
ACCRA
1989
1st quarter 2,390 1,930 5 270
2nd quarter 3,760 3,150 5 460
3rd quarter 4,390 3,960 10 340
4th quarter 2,850 2,230 5 290
Year 13,380 11,270 10 1,370
1990
1st quarter 2,790 2,190 10 600
LAGOS
1989
1st quarter 9,190 6,240 4 1,410
2nd quarter 15,980 10,930 4 2,180
3rd quarter 18,290 12,090 5 2,070
4th quarter 10,760 7,200 4 1,640
Year 54,220 36,460 5 7,290
1990
1st quarter 10,380 7,190 5 1,910
KADUNA
1989
1st quarter 1,070 880 4 140
2nd quarter 2,060 1,760 5 210
3rd quarter 2,070 1,650 4 250
4th quarter 1,640 1,350 4 220
Year 6,840 5,360 5 830
1990
1st quarter 1,650 1,360 4 310
ANKARA
1989
3rd quarter2 3,080 2,820 4 230
4th quarter 2,450 2,150 4 250
Year 6 6 6 6

Applications
Of which:
Newly received1 Granted Granted on appeal Refused initially
1990
1st quarter 6 6 6 6
ISTANBUL
1989
3rd quarter2 7,710 7,470 4 70
4th quarter 36,000 35,800 4 70
Year 6 6 6 6
1990
1st quarter 35,200 35,000 4 60
1 Including applications subsequently withdrawn.
2 Including period 23 to 30 June 1989; corresponding data are not available prior to 23 June 1989, when the visa requirement was introduced.
3 Estimated.
4 Nil.
5 Five or fewer.
6 Not available centrally.

Table 2: Waiting time for persons applying for a visit visa who required a lengthy interview
Number of days
Post Waiting time for person interviewed at end of period
June 1989 January 1990 May 1990
Dhaka 6 6 6
New Delhi 6 6 6
Bombay 6 6 6
Calcutta 6 6 6
Madras 6— or 1 1 6
Islamabad 7 10 10
Karachi 6 6 6
Accra 7 351 42
Lagos 1 11 7
Kaduna 6 61 63
Ankara 94 10 15
Istanbul 94 16 2
1 At end December 1989
2 At end June 1990
3 At end March 1990
4 At end July 1989
5 At end February 1990
6— same day.
7— not available centrally

Mr. Vaz

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many outstanding applications there were at Lunar house and the nationality department at Liverpool in each month of 1990.

Mr. Peter Lloyd

I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to his earlier question on 25 June at column36. The nationality figures in that reply include applications outstanding at Liverpool.

Mr. Corbyn

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many nationals of(a) Jamaica, (b) Turkey, (c) Morocco, (d) the United States of America, (e) Australia, (f) Malaysia, (g) Hong Kong, (h) Guyana, (i) Trinidad, (j) Colombia, (k) Algeria, (j) Barbados and (m) Tunisia were (i) granted and (ii) refused permission to enter the United Kingdom at ports of entry, in each quarter since January 1989 to the nearest available date.

Mr. Peter Lloyd

The information is given in the table:

Total passenger admissions and those refused leave to enter and removed by selected nationalities
Numbers
First Quarter
Admissions Refused and removed
1989
Jamaica 6,230 236
Turkey 17,000 618
Morocco 3,520 253
United States of America 442,000 261
Australia 72,400 35
Malaysia 12,400 93
Hong Kong (BDTCs and BN(O)s) 14,500 33
Guyana 1,080 11
Trinidad and Tobago 3,260 18
Colombia 3,320 116
Algeria 4,120 391
Barbados 1,490 6
Tunisia 1,870 50

Total passenger admissions and those refused leave to enter and removed by selected nationalities
Numbers
Second Quarter
Admissions Refused and removed
1989
Jamaica 8,310 195
Turkey 16,900 1,082
Morocco 4,160 305
United States of America 787,000 280
Australia 129,000 40
Malaysia 16,800 261
Hong Kong (BDTCs and BN(O)s) 14,600 45
Guyana 1,460 9
Trinidad and Tobago 4,200 16
Colombia 5,490 196
Algeria 4,560 543
Barbados 2,260 7
Tunisia 1,980 42

Total passenger admissions and those refused leave to enter and removed by selected nationalities
Number
Third Quarter
Admissions Refused and removed
1989
Jamaica 11,700 202
Turkey 20,800 286
Morocco 9,610 1,051
United States of America 877,000 337
Australia 154,000 38
Malaysia 25,800 141
Hong Kong (BDTCs and BN(O)s) 28,200 49
Guyana 2,360 10
Trinidad and Tobago 6,410 24
Colombia 6,460 194
Algeria 8,380 1,198
Barbados 4,120 12
Tunisia 2,550 58

Total passenger admissions and those refused leave to enter and removed by selected nationalities
Numbers
Fourth quarter
Admissions Refused and removed
1989
Jamaica 5,920 170
Turkey 15,600 122
Morocco 5,100 466
United States of America 569,000 270
Australia 95,600 33
Malaysia 17,200 123
Hong Kong (BDTCs and BN(O)s) 12,600 51
Guyana 1,330 14
Trinidad and Tobago 3,670 18
Colombia 3,710 133
Algeria 4,570 961
Barbados 1,640 6
Tunisia 2,170 60

Total passenger admissions and those refused leave to enter and removed by selected nationalities
Numbers
Total
Admissions Refused and removed
1989
Jamaica 32,200 803
Turkey 70,300 2,108
Morocco 22,400 2,075
United States of America 2,670,000 1,148
Australia 451,000 146
Malaysia 72,200 618
Hong Kong (BDTCs and BN(O)s) 69,900 178
Guyana 6,230 44
Trinidad and Tobago 17,500 76
Colombia 19,000 639
Algeria 21,600 3,093
Barbados 9,510 31
Tunisia 8,570 210

First Quarter
Admissions Refused and removed
1990
Jamaica 5,530 160
Turkey 16,800 82
Morocco 4,550 353
United States of America 506,000 313
Australia 80,000 45
Malaysia 13,600 107
Hong Kong (BDTCs and BN(O)s) 15,000 40
Guyana 1,080 15
Trinidad and Tobago 3,320 32
Colombia 3,300 130
Algeria 4,880 748
Barbados 1,300 6
Tunisia 2,030 81

Mr. Corbyn

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people were received into prison department establishments under Immigration Act powers during(a) 1988 and (b) 1989, by individual prison establishment; what was the average daily population of persons so detained in each of those years; what was the average length of time spent in detention by persons so detained in each of those years; and whether he will give a breakdown by nationality of persons so detained for each of those years.

Mr. Mellor

Information about detainees received into prison service establishments in England and Wales under the Immigration Act 1971 in 1988 is given by establishment and nationality in the tables. Similar information for 1989 is not yet available. The average period of detention completed by such persons in 1989 is provisionally estimated as nearly five weeks. The average population was 157 in 1989, including persons originally received for a criminal offence. The average population and the average length of detention of detainees in prison service establishments in 1988 were published in tables 1.1 and 6.6 of "Prison Statistics England and Wales" —Cm 825—a copy of which is in the Library.

Receptions of persons detained under the Immigration Act 1971 into

prison service establishments in England and Wales in 1988: by

establishment

Establishment 1Number
Remand centers
Ashford 1
Brockhill 2
Hull 2
Latchmere House 917
Low Newton 1
Manchester 1
Pucklechurch 3
Risley 25
Winchester 1
Local prisons
Bedford 8
Birmingham 33
Bristol 15
Brixton 16
Canterbury 28
Cardiff 4
Dorchester 4
Durham 21
Exeter 1
Gloucester 4
Holloway 19
Hull 18
Leeds 16
Leicester 56
Lewes 3
Lincoln 2
New Hall 1
Norwich 3
Oxford 4
Pentonville 31
Reading 4
Shrewsbury 4
Swansea 2
Winchester 9
All prison service establishments 1,259
1 The figures are those recorded centrally and are approximate: detailed checking of individual cases would involve disproportionate cost.

Receptions of persons detained under the Immigration Act 1971 into

Prison Service establishments in England and Wales in 1988: by

nationality

Nationality Number1
Nigeria 268
Ghana 142
India 116
Turkey 111
Pakistan 61
Bangladesh 50
Sri Lanka 45
Algeria 35
Morocco 35
Iran 27

Nationality Number1
Jamaica 27
Iraq 17
Somalia 176
Lebanon 15
Cyprus 14
Malaysia 13
Uganda 12
Hong Kong 11
Colombia 10
Portugal 10
France 9
Sierra Leone 9
Brazil 8
Egypt 8
Yugoslavia 8
United States of America 7
Libya 6
China 5
Poland 5
Seychelles 5
Other nationalities2 114
Not recorded 40
All nationalities 1,259
1 The figures are those recorded centrally and are approximate: detailed checking of individual cases would involve disproportionate cost
2 Where fewer than five were recorded

Mr. Corbyn

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many persons were detained under Immigration Act powers for a period of more than two months on completion of a custodial sentence during(a) 1988, (b) 1989 and (c) the first quarter of 1990.

Mr. Peter Lloyd

The figures, excluding deportation cases who served a custodial sentence of seven days or less for whom the information is not readily available, are as follows:

Persons
1988 11
1989 16
11990 2
1 First quarter.

Mr. Corbyn

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many persons were recommended for deportation with no custodial sentence during 1989 and the first quarter of 1990; and in how many such cases the courts directed release(a) subject to conditions and (b) without conditions.

Total numbers of persons newly detained at each location during the month shown
Month Harmondsworth detention center Queen's building Beehive Haslar
January 1989 252 219 255
February 1989 214 210 229
March 1989 215 235 137
April 1989 191 225 280
May 1989 234 244 308
June 1989 180 185 223
July 1989 174 202 195 117
August 1989 261 220 258 72
September 1989 351 229 241 78
October 1989 434 196 264 78
November 1989 485 205 196 81
December 1989 428 204 236 95
January 1990 420 175 224 68
February 1990 272 178 131 86
March 1990 492 225 211 77

Mr. Peter Lloyd

During 1989, a total of 86 persons were recommended for deportation by the courts with no custodial sentence and a total of 13 persons during the first quarter of 1990. The other information requested is no longer collected centrally and is not readily available.

Mr. Corbyn

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many persons detained under Immigration Act powers applied to his Department to be allowed to depart voluntarily under the supervised departure provisions of the immigration rules in each quarter since January 1989.

Mr. Peter Lloyd

The readily available information on the numbers of persons removed under the supervised departure procedures for 1989 is published in table 14 of the statistical bulletin issue 8/90 "Control of Immigration: Statistics—Fourth Quarter and Year 1989" and more recently in table 18 of the Home Office Command Paper "Control of Immigration Statistics United Kingdom 1989"—Cm. 1124—copies of both of which are in the Library. The available information for 1990 is given in the table. Most of these persons would have been detained prior to departure. A number would have been subject to restrictions as an alternative to detention but such cases could be separately identified only at disproportionate cost.

Number of persons removed under the supervised departure procedures by category of case in the first quarter of 1990
Period Breach of conditions of leave to enter or remain (Section 3(5)a) Following court recommendation (Section 3(6)) Total number of persons
19901 309 3 312
1 First quarter.

Mr. Corbyn

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what were (i) the total numbers detained and (ii) the average occupancy in(a) Harmondsworth detention centre, (b) the Harmondsworth annex, (c) Queen's building, (d) the Beehive, Gatwick, and (e) Her Majesty's prison, Haslar, for each month from January 1989 to the nearest available date.

Mr. Peter Lloyd

The available information is as follows:

Month Harmondsworth detention centre Queen's building Beehive Haslar
April 1990 359 150 135 56
May 1990 358 155 97 78

Notes:

(i) Some persons may have been detained at more than one location within the same month.

(ii) Harmondsworth detention centre figures relate to both buildings DA and annex JA.

(iii) HMP Haslar was used for immigration detention purposes from 28 June 1989.

Average occupancy figures
Harmondsworth
building DA JA Annex Queen's building Gatwick Beehive Haslar
January 1989 63 29 15 15
February 1989 63 30 15 14
March 1989 60 30 15 14
April 1989 64 29 15 14
May 1989 64 30 14 15
June 1989 65 30 15 16
July 1989 65 30 15 14 75
August 1989 63 30 14 13 87
September 1989 64 29 15 14 90
October 1989 55 29 14 13 71
November 1989 51 28 14 12 72
December 1989 54 28 13 14 81
January 1990 50 26 13 13 63
February 1990 55 26 13 9 76
March 1990 48 25 14 12 79
April 1990 55 25 12 9 82
May 1990 57 25 10 11 87

Note: HMP Haslar was used for immigration detention purposes from 28 June 1989.