§ Mr. VazTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many officials are employed in the Migration and Visa Correspondence Unit; what is the average time it takes to deal with an hon. Member's inquiry; and how many outstanding cases there were on 5 May. [1823]
§ Mr. FatchettThere are 12 officials working in the Correspondence Unit. The Unit's target for replying to letters from hon. Members is 15 working days. There were 195 letters awaiting reply on 11 May; the figure for 5 May is not available.
§ Mr. VazTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many staff deal with immigration-related issues in the posts at(a) Bombay, (b) New Delhi, (c) Calcutta, (d) Islamabad, (e) Karachi and (f) Dacca. [1824]
§ Mr. FatchettExcluding the head of post or mission, the number of staff dealing with entry clearance issues (though not all are full time) in the Posts referred to are as follows:
Number (a) Bombay 41 (b) New Delhi 49 (c) Calcutta 4 (d) Islamabad 95 (e) Karachi 21 (f) Dacca 55