§ Mr. MalinsTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to improve the efficiency of the Immigration and Nationality Directorate Headquarters in Croydon. [95681]
§ Mrs. RocheIn March, my hon. Friend, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Home Office (Mr. O'Brien), established a recovery project to identify and implement measures to bring the output of the Integrated Casework Directorate (ICD) back to acceptable levels. We are now seeing the effect of these measures. Since mid-September, overall weekly output has exceeded the average weekly level prior to reorganisation. ICD is taking forward a range of initiatives to improve productivity further so it can meet the targets set out in the Government's White Paper and to reduce the backlogs. Around 340 staff have already been recruited for Croydon and there are plans to recruit a further 200. A detailed business plan is being developed to enable the Directorate to deploy its resources to maximum effect.
§ Mr. MalinsTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the average time taken by(a) the Immigration and Nationality Directorate and (b) himself to respond to hon. Members' letters on immigration matters. [95448]
§ Mrs. RocheI refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave to the hon. Member for Aylesbury (Mr. Lidington), on 25 October 1999,Official Report, column 687.