§ Mr. DarlingTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many outstanding immigration applications there are at Lunar house 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; and what are the average times applicants in each category might expect to wait before a decision.
§ Mr. Charles WardleThe available information is that at end of June 1992 there were in total about 20,700 cases in the general 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 59,700 cases in the asylum and special cases division.
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 1992, was two months for students and 17½ months for asylum applications. 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. DarlingTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people were received into prison department establishments under Immigration Act powers during(a) 1991 and (b) 1992 to the latest convenient date, 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