§ Mr. LidingtonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many files the Case Allocation Unit in the Immigration and Nationality Directorate(a) received and (b) despatched in each week from the week ended 16 April. [92844]
§ Mr. Mike O'BrienThe figures are:
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Date Files received Files despatched 17 April 4,115 2,931 24 April 1,766 2,202 8 May1 10,936 6,202 15 May 6,565 1,592 22 May 4,396 2,078 29 May 5,129 2,556 5 June 1,980 2,221 12 June 2,939 1,735 19 June 3,737 1,778
Date Files received Files despatched 26 June 3,076 1,812 3 July 4,220 1,908 10 July 3,570 1,828 17 July 3,224 1,937 1 Includes figures for week ended 1 May.
§ Mr. LidingtonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the current average number of staff manning the Telephone Caller Unit in the Immigration and Nationality Directorate. [92840]
§ Mr. Mike O'BrienThe current daily average number of staff logged in to the telephone system available to take calls in the Immigration and Nationality Enquiry Bureau (INEB) is 27.
§ Mr. LidingtonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the forecast outturn is for the budget of the Immigration and Nationality Directorate for 1999–2000. [92852]
§ Mr. Mike O'BrienThe latest forecast outturn for 1999–2000 for the Immigration and Nationality Directorate is estimated as £679 million. This includes the estimated costs of providing support to asylum seekers. These costs are sensitive to a range of factors including the number of asylum applications, speed of processing and take-up rates. It is, therefore, difficult to predict with certainty the eventual cost for 1999–2000.
§ Mr. LidingtonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is his estimate of the number of cases awaiting action in the Immigration and Nationality Directorate which contain passports. [92838]
§ Mr. Mike O'BrienOf the applications awaiting decision in the Immigration and Nationality Directorate, approximately 34,000 contain passports. These are general cases, for example, cases where spouse, student or other issues are being considered.
§ Mr. LidingtonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many complaints of maladministration concerning the Immigration and Nationality Directorate have been notified to his Department by the Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration since the beginning of 1999. [92849]
§ Mr. Mike O'BrienThe Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration has made nine formal and two informal inquiries about complaints about the Immigration and Nationality Directorate between 1 January and 21 July 1999.
§ Mr. LidingtonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much money he has paid in the current year to members of the public as compensation or as ex-gratia payments following loss or inconvenience which was due to delays in the Immigration and Nationality Directorate. [92837]
§ Mr. Mike O'BrienApproximately £13,600 has been paid in ex-gratia payments of compensation so far this year by the Immigration and Nationality Directorate. Compensation is generally paid for financial loss arising from lost or misplaced passports.
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§ Mr. LidingtonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is his estimate of the number of unopened letters at the Immigration and Nationality Directorate. [92848]
§ Mr. Mike O'BrienThere are currently no unopened letters in the Mail Handling Section. All generally addressed post is opened by this section on the day received, and all specifically addressed post is forwarded on the day of receipt to its appropriate destination. An earlier backlog of 18,000 unopened post in the Mail Handling Section was cleared in March. For special reasons, there is a separate procedure for dealing with applications and accompanying fees in the Travel Documents Case Management Unit. The letters are normally unopened until they are processed and a cashier registers the fees and issues a receipt. As at 22 July, there were 1,200 of these items.
§ Mr. LidingtonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is his current estimate of trends in processing casework at the Immigration and Nationality Directorate. [92839]
§ Mr. Mike O'BrienThe output of the Integrated Casework Directorate (ICD) is recovering. Radical measures are being explored to speed up the decision making process with a view to exceeding previous output.
§ Mr. LidingtonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many files from the Immigration and Nationality Directorate's Case Allocation Unit are currently stored in Acton. [92845]
§ Mr. Mike O'BrienNo files from the Case Allocation Unit are stored in Acton.
§ Mr. LidingtonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what was the average unit cost of caseworking in the Immigration and Nationality Directorate in each month since January 1998. [92842]
§ Mr. Mike O'BrienI refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave to the hon. Member for Hertsmere (Mr. Clappison) on 17 May 1999,Official Report, column 261.
The direct cost of caseworking is routinely monitored under the terms of the Casework Programme contract between the Immigration and Nationality Directorate and Siemens Business Services. The latest estimates of those costs, which exclude some overheads, are given in the table:
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£ Month Unit Cost January 1998 39.62 February 1998 39.12 March 1998 37.93 April 1998 38.90 May 1998 47.59 June 1998 37.34 July 1998 35.45 August 1998 43.45 September 1998 37.14 October 1998 33.54 November 1998 40.36 December 1998 78.64 January 1999 71.84 February 1999 58.90 March 1999 48.18 April 1999 43.27 May 1999 34.73 It should be noted that unit costs are subject to revisions and final agreement with Siemens Business Services.
§ Mr. LidingtonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what was the average daily number of callers who attended(a) the Public Caller Unit and (b) the Asylum Screening Unit at the Immigration and Nationality Directorate in each month since the beginning of 1999. [92847]
§ Mr. Mike O'BrienThe figures represent the number of callers coming into the Public Caller Unit who were issued with tickets ie the main applicants or persons with an inquiry. The figures do not include family and friends. With regard to the Asylum Screening Unit, the figures do not include family, friends, representatives and their interpreters. The average daily number of callers coming into the Public Caller Unit and the Asylum Screening Unit since the beginning of 1999 were:
Month Public caller unit Asylum screening unit June 862 239 May 663 202 April 661 226 March 723 175 February 627 297 January 723 325