§ Mr. BrookeTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what action his Department is taking to ensure 485W that persons who have applied in time for renewal of exceptional leave to remain are not denied benefits due to delays in processing their applications. [90239]
§ Mr. StrawResponsibility for deciding who is eligible to receive benefits is a matter for the Department of Social Security and the Benefits Agency. An official in the Integrated Casework Directorate wrote to the Chief Executive of the Benefits Agency on 27 April to clarify the immigration status of such applicants. In immigration law, provided a person with leave to remain applies for an extension before that leave expires, that person may remain lawfully in the United Kingdom after expiry of that leave until the application is decided, and of course beyond that date if the application is granted. The Chief Executive was advised that provided persons seeking benefits produced evidence to Benefits Agency staff that they had submitted an application for extension of leave before it had expired, then Benefits Agency staff could assume that they were here lawfully.
It was suggested that the Chief Executive might wish to circulate this information widely among Benefits Agency staff, as the Immigration and Nationality Directorate were aware that some applicants were being refused benefits although they had submitted an application for an extension before expiry of their permitted leave.
The delay in dealing with some applications owing to the reorganisation of the Immigration and Nationality Directorate is regretted. However, the situation is improving and output from the Integrated Casework Directorate has now recovered to about 80 per cent. of the level achieved during last year.