§ Mr. SinghTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many asylum seekers have been waiting for(a) more than one year, (b) more than three years and (c) more than five years for an initial decision on their asylum applications. [26711]
§ Mr. Mike O'BrienAs at 31 December 1997, there were 51,795 applications for asylum in the United Kingdom, excluding dependants, awaiting an initial decision. The available breakdown of these cases, by year of application, is given in the table.
Asylum applications awaiting an initial decision as at 31 December 1997, by year of application1 Year of application Percentage Pre 1994 25 1994 15 1995 25 1996 15 1997 20 Total 51,795 (100) 1Estimates rounded to the nearest 5 per cent.