§ Mr. ClappisonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what changes in the arrangements for(a) deporting persons subject to deportation orders and 249W (b) locating and removing illegal immigrants are planned to be made in the period from 1 December 1998 to 1 March 1999. [62228]
§ Mr. Mike O'BrienThe period 1 December 1998 to 1 March 1999 will see the reorganisation of casework in the Immigration and Nationality Directorate from the present Directorates into a single Integrated Caseworking Directorate. Arrangements for the removal of illegal entrants and people against whom deportation orders have been made will continue unchanged during this period: and the Immigration Service will continue to respond in cases where suspected illegal entrants are detected. During the reorganisation of headquarters case records there will be some interruption to the paper processing of cases, but this will not affect the ability of local immigration officers to take enforcement action in the many cases where decisions have already been taken.
§ Mr. ClappisonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how he plans to ascertain whether or not the considerations to be taken into account in dealing with asylum applications made between 1 July 1993 and 31 December 1995 apply to the cases of individual asylum seekers; and if he plans that each such applicant will be interviewed; [62229]
(2) how he plans to ascertain the considerations to be taken into account in dealing with asylum applications made between 1 July 1993 and 31 December 1995; and if he plans that each such applicant will be interviewed. [62209]
§ Mr. Mike O'BrienUndecided asylum cases, where the date of application falls between the dates relevant to the backlog procedure, have already been identified. Instructions to caseworkers processing these cases will be issued shortly and will be made available to the public through selected sites and the internet. A copy will also be placed in the Library.
Although it may be necessary to interview some of these applicants in order to give cases full consideration, where possible a decision will be taken on the information already available on the file, or subsequently obtained by post from the applicant.
§ Mr. ClappisonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the incidence of offending among asylum seekers; and if he will make a statement. [62211]
§ Mr. Mike O'BrienNo general assessment has been made of such incidents, but any conviction will be notified to the Immigration and Nationality Directorate and will be taken into account when deciding whether an asylum seeker should be allowed to remain in the United Kingdom. There is no evidence that the vast majority of asylum seekers are committing non-immigration criminal offences in the United Kingdom. Recent reports in the press have highlighted criminal offending by a minority, most of whom, with the sanction of the courts, will be removed from the United Kingdom.
§ Mr. ClappisonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he proposes to establish guidelines as to the considerations to be taken into account in dealing with asylum applications made between 1 July 1993 and 31 December 1995 as outlined in paragraph 8.30 of Fairer, Faster and Firmer. [62208]
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§ Mr. Mike O'BrienInstructions on how to deal with cases which fall to be dealt with under the backlog procedures are to be issued to staff shortly. A copy of these instructions will be placed in the Library, sent to selected sites and placed on the Immigration and Nationality Directorate's website on the internet.
§ Mr. ClappisonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what account will be taken of delays in dealing with their asylum claim caused by the actions of the asylum seekers themselves as regards applicants(a) before 1 July 1993 and (b) from 1 July 1993 to 31 December 1995, in determining the eligibility of such an asylum applicant for indefinite leave to remain under paragraph 8.29 of Fairer, Faster and Firmer. [62233]
§ Mr. Mike O'BrienIt would be difficult to envisage a set of criteria which would make it possible to distinguish those who through some action have delayed their case and the extent to which it was, in each individual case, justifiable or not.
Applicants who sought asylum in the United Kingdom before 1 January 1996 and who were still awaiting an initial decision on 27 July 1998 will not be excluded from the backlog procedures announced in the White Paper, even if some of the delay was caused by their own actions. However, any applicant whose case is being dealt with as part of the backlog exercise who, without good reason, fails to respond promptly to inquiries made by the Immigration and Nationality Directorate since the publication of the White Paper, is liable to have their application refused on non-compliance grounds.
§ Mr. ClappisonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how he proposes to ascertain in the case of each individual applicant whether or not the presence of pre-July 1993 asylum applicants is conducive to the public good; [62207]
(2) how he plans to ascertain in the case of individual pre-July 1993 asylum seekers whether or not their presence is conducive to the public good. [62213]
§ Mr. Mike O'BrienThe information on individual case files will be examined. The Immigration and Nationality Directorate is routinely informed when those subject to immigration control are arrested and convicted of an offence.
§ Mr. ClappisonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the offences which amount to serious criminal offences for the purposes of determining the eligibility of pre–1 July 1993 asylum applicants for indefinite leave to remain under Para 8.29 of Fairer, Faster and Firmer-A Modern Approach to Immigration and Asylum. [62230]
§ Mr. Mike O'BrienIt depends on the circumstances of the case. but generally an offender receiving a custodial sentence of 12 months or more would be excluded from benefiting from the backlog procedure. Other offenders may be excluded if their record is serious enough.
§ Mr. ClappisonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps are currently taken to discover if asylum seekers have a criminal record prior to claiming asylum in the United Kingdom; and what plans he has to introduce new checks so as to ascertain if asylum seekers have criminal records. [62210]
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§ Mr. Mike O'BrienIt is existing practice for the Immigration and Nationality Directorate to be advised if any foreign national is convicted of a criminal offence in the United Kingdom. A refugee who has been convicted by a final judgment of a particularly serious crime and constitutes a danger to the community may be removed to the country from which they sought asylum. When considering asylum applications, factors such as criminal convictions will be taken into account if a person qualifies as a refugee and before permission is given to remain in the United Kingdom.
It is not generally possible to ascertain whether an asylum seeker has committed an offence before they arrived in this country. However, if it is discovered that they have, consideration will be given to whether their actions exclude them from protection under the terms of the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees.
We have no plans to introduce any new checks to ascertain whether asylum seekers have criminal records.
§ Mr. ClappisonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the likely effects of the refurbishment of Lunar House on the Immigration Service over the next three months. [62227]
§ Mr. Mike O'BrienThe conditions at Lunar House have been described as Dickensian. The much needed refurbishment has been timed to fit in with fundamental changes in the way the Immigration and Nationality Directorate (IND) handles casework. These include the creation of a new Integrated Casework Directorate, which will be in temporary offices above the Whitgift Centre in Croydon until the building work on Lunar House has been
Notifiable offences recorded by the police in which firearms, other than air weapons, were reported to have been used England and Wales 1995–1996 Offences July 1995-June 1996 July 1996-June 1997 July 1997-June 1998 (provisional) Homicide 64 51 43 Attempted murder and other acts (including wounding) endangering life 746 547 652 Other offences of violence against the person 596 743 809 Robbery 4,249 3,307 2,720 Burglary 255 240 273 Other offences excluding criminal damage 248 229 221 Criminal damage 155 144 103 All offences 6.313 5,261 4.821 Note:
Figures for July 1997 to June 1998 exclude a few offences which became notifiable from 1 April 1998