§ Mr. CohenTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many immigration posts have run-out of forms SAL1 and SAL2 in the last year; how many have been using form IS96 for the wrong purpose in the last year; what assessment he has made of the effects of this on(a) fraud and (b) inconvenience to asylum seekers; what plans he has to issue more consistency of supply; and if he will make a statement. [93732]
§ Mrs. RocheIn the 12 months ending on 12 July 1999, because of printing problems, four immigration ports of entry exhausted their supplies of form SAL1 on various dates between 29 June and 12 July 1999 but no port of entry exhausted its supply of form SAL2. As a temporary measure, the Immigration Service, after liaising with the Benefits Agency, issued alternative confirmation that applicants who were not issued with form SAL1 had arrived in the United Kingdom and sought asylum on entry. There is no record that during the same period any port used form IS96 for the wrong purpose.
There are no indications that these measures had any bearing on fraud or that there was significant inconvenience to asylum seekers.
There are now adequate stocks of forms SAL1 and SAL2 available and future orders will be placed earlier.