HC Deb 04 April 2000 vol 347 cc437-9W
Mr. Gale

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list, for each month since January 1998,(a) the number of processed asylum applicants removed from the United Kingdom and (b) the number of processed asylum applicants whose claims have been rejected and who have not been traced. [117253]

Mrs. Roche

Provisional information, relating to removals and voluntary departures for January 1998 to February 2000 of persons who had applied for asylum at some stage, is given in the table.

Asylum seekers whose applications have been considered and refused are removed only once all their rights of appeal in the United Kingdom have been exhausted. It should be noted that the figures may include some persons who withdrew their asylum application or appeal before a decision or determination had been reached. Cases dealt with on a safe third-country basis are also included.

The latest figure for the number of known asylum absconders is 20,000. This is a snapshot, taken from the Immigration and Nationality Directorate port and enforcement databases at the end of November 1998, of those persons (excluding dependants) who had applied for asylum at some point and who had breached the conditions of their temporary admission, temporary release or restriction order, or were otherwise found to be out of contact with the Immigration and Nationality Directorate. It should be noted that a person may become an absconder at any stage of the asylum process and that some persons recorded as absconders may have left the United Kingdom without the knowledge of the Immigration and Nationality Directorate. Data recording problems mean that this figure cannot currently be updated.

Removals and voluntary departures of asylum applicants, excluding dependants, by month, January 1998 to February 2000
Month Removals and voluntary departures 1,2
January 1998 600
February 1998 525
March 1998 555
April 1998 465
May 1998 490
June 1998 485
July 1998 560
August 1998 610
September 1998 535
October 1998 670
November 1998 695
December 1998 720
January 1999 650
February 1999 585
March 1999 615
April 1999 600
May 1999 625
June 1999 610
July 1999 660
August 1999 625
September 1999 685
October 1999 710
November 1999 635
December 1999 645
January 2000 605
February 2000 680
1 For port asylum applicants, the data include persons departing voluntarily up to and including the point of notification of the decision on the asylum application and those persons who have had their asylum application refused and leave the country before they have exhausted their rights of appeal. For in-country applicants, the data exclude persons departing voluntarily before the initiation of enforcement action.
2 Figures are provisional, revised and rounded to the nearest five.

Mr. Lidington

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many asylum seekers had registered with each local authority in England and Wales at the most recent date for which figures are available. [117659]

Mrs. Roche

The information requested is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Mr. Lidington

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to make regulations to specify that no further asylum seekers may be placed in particular local authority areas; which local authority areas he intends to specify; and if he will make a statement. [117656]

Mrs. Roche

At present, there are no plans to exercise the relevant powers to make regulations that would permit no further asylum seekers to be placed in particular local authority areas.

Mr. Lidington

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much accommodation each regional consortium has secured on behalf of the National Asylum Seekers Support Agency. [117654]

Mrs. Roche

We have been conducting extensive negotiations with the regional consortia and expect in the coming months to sign contracts with them.

Mr. Lidington

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to set maximum limits to the number of asylum seekers which any individual local authority should be expected to support. [117657]

Mrs. Roche

I have no present plans to do so.

Mr. Lidington

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if it is his policy to deport from the United Kingdom asylum seekers who are convicted of aggressive begging; and if he will make a statement. [117655]

Mrs. Roche

I have made arrangements for details of foreign nationals arrested by the police for begging to be passed immediately to a central contact point in the Immigration and Nationality Directorate. The Immigration Service will establish the person's immigration status, and if they make an asylum application or have an application outstanding about which they have not yet been interviewed, will conduct an asylum interview. The application will be fast-tracked for decision, as will any appeal.

It is my policy to ensure that all asylum seekers, including those convicted of begging, whose applications are unfounded are removed from the United Kingdom as quickly as possible.

The hon. Member will be aware that important changes to speed up appeals and the removal of unsuccessful applicants are contained in the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 and will come into force later this year.