HC Deb 12 December 2000 vol 359 cc88-92W
Mr. Lidington

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many asylum application forms submitted in each month since 1 January have been returned because the applicant provided no proper address; and if he will make a statement. [142435]

Mrs. Roche

Since 31 August, postal applications submitted without the full address of the applicant have been returned with a request for the address to be given. This measure was introduced to ensure that basic information about the applicant was available to help deter fraudulent or multiple applications. The application is recorded once the address has been provided, except for applicants living in London who are first required to come to Croydon for screening. Reliable information on the number of applications returned for the address to be provided is not available, but is estimated to be about 450 a month on average.

Mr. Lidington

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many asylum seekers are being supported by each local authority; and if he will make a statement. [142468]

Mrs. Roche

The table gives records of the number of support weeks provided by local authorities to single adults and to families in the period 1 April to 29 September 2000. This information has been taken from the un-audited asylum support grant claims for the period and some authorities have not yet submitted claims.

Number of support weeks provided 1 April to 29 September 2000
Local authority Single adults Families
Barking and Dagenham 17,490 14,386
Barnet 6,939 9,188
Barnsley 1,584 328
Bath and North East Somerset 131 0
Bedfordshire 6,100 1,168
Bexley 2,769 1,674
Birmingham 12,487 4,661
Blackpool 623 0
Bolton Metro 1,125 430
Bournemouth 3,035 486
Bradford 897 521
Brent 11,451 13,002
Brighton and Hove 4,732 554
Bristol City 6,425 1,026
Bromley 3,630 3,317
Buckinghamshire 1,097 196
Bury 683 340
Caerphilly County 156 0
Calderdale 46l 83
Cambridgeshire 4,827 796
Camden 11,702 9,335
Cardiff 1,993 618
Ceredigion CC 1 0
Cheshire 427 217
City of Newcastle 6,255 971
Conwy CBC 25 0
Cornwall 46 0
Corporation of London 3,086 927
Coventry 2,134 445
Croydon 3,624 4,665
Cumbria 36 26
Darlington 26 0
Denbighshire County 26 0
Derby 3,857 720
Derbyshire 202 0
Devon 914 42
Dorset 926 58

Number of support weeks provided 1 April to 29 September 2000
Local authority Single adults Families
Dudley 614 290
Ealing 9,706 7,119
East Riding of Yorkshire 184 26
East Sussex 3,221 593
Enfield 14,954 15,533
Flintshire 26 0
Gateshead 1,114 52
Gloucestershire 3,150 443
Greenwich 13,563 6,925
Hackney 20,265 13,248
Halton 26 8
Hammersmith and Fulham 16,449 11,885
Hampshire 1,407 290
Haringey 34,486 28,777
Havering 5,938 2,592
Herefordshire 89 39
Hertfordshire 11,832 2,227
Hillingdon 22,306 5,828
Hounslow 3,903 6,502
Isle of Wight 32 6
Islington 60,840 14,956
Kensington and Chelsea 20,109 9,349
Kent 116,823 14,867
Kingston Upon Hull 2,248 378
Kingston Upon Thames 1,998 1,641
Kirklees 1,290 541
Knowsley 344 405
Lambeth 20,676 14,877
Lancashire 303 136
Leeds 2,221 585
Leicester 4,788 1,853
Leicestershire 1,611 642
Lewisham 25,305 12,709
Lincolnshire 2,897 447
Liverpool 4,928 1,196
Luton 12,142 3,850
Manchester 14,158 4,989
Medway 743 180
Merthyr Tydfil County 26 0
Merton 5,482 5,775
Middlesbrough 1,334 285
Milton Keynes 4,980 1,610
Newham 33,753 35,168
Newport County 303 111
Norfolk 4,199 583
North East Lincolnshire 1,724 170
North Lincolnshire 117 26
North Somerset 351 73
North Tyneside 606 212
North Yorkshire 210 47
Northamptonshire 36,584 2,771
Northumberland 22 0
Nottingham 2,741 310
Nottinghamshire 845 157
Oldham 246 297
Oxfordshire 21,288 5,206
Pembrokeshire 154 0
Peterborough 1,707 400
Plymouth 344 254
Poole 64 78
Portsmouth 7,655 703
Reading 8,187 2,140
Redbridge 25,193 10,729
Redcar and Cleveland 948 185
Rhondda Cynon Taff County 102 17
Richmond Upon Thames 17,890 6,134
Rochdale 572 468
Rotherham 1,157 494
Rutland 142 26
Salford 1,920 651
Sandwell 5,517 1,041
Sheffield 10,997 5,003
Slough 19,331 9,180

Number of support weeks provided 1 April to 29 September 2000
Local authority Single adults Families
Solihull 462 101
Somerset 246 87
South Gloucestershire 380 182
South Tyneside 26 289
Southampton 10,662 698
Southend on Sea 5,108 2,238
Southwark 36,564 15,351
St. Helens 46 0
Staffordshire 2,553 260
Stockport 603 424
Stockton on Tees 87 48
Stoke on Trent 1,453 104
Suffolk 2,455 274
Sunderland 1,013 78
Surrey 7,797 882
Sutton 5,180 2,400
Swindon 1,785 370
Tameside 546 158
Telford and Wrekin 360 26
Thurrock 6,520 1,633
Tower Hamlets 9,234 4,139
Trafford 410 322
Vale of Glamorgan 156 26
Wakefield 2,493 318
Walsall 526 187
Waltham Forest 21,360 10,908
Wandsworth 4,841 6,989
Warrington 143 0
West Berkshire 179 75
West Sussex 3,150 572
Westminster 19,106 12,203
Wigan 1,021 123
Wiltshire 428 135
Windsor and Maidenhead 80 113
Wokingham 233 155
Wolverhampton 814 370
Worcestershire 1,327 322
York 242 27
Cyngor Gwynedd Council 5 0

The Home Office does not hold records for each authority of the individual asylum seekers receiving support.

Mr. Lidington

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the average cost is of supporting(a) a single asylum seeker and (b) a family for seven days; and if he will make a statement. [142428]

Mrs. Roche

For the first six months of 2000–01 the average cost to the Home Office of supporting a single asylum seeker for seven days is estimated at £119 and £241 for a family.

These figures cover single adult asylum seekers and asylum seeking families on social security benefits, as well as those supported by local authorities under the interim scheme and by the National Asylum Support Service.

Mr. Lidington

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on his Department's handling of the asylum application of N. Asur Saribal. [142427]

Mrs. Roche

It is the general policy of the Immigration and Nationality Directorate not to disclose any information it may hold on an individual to third parties unless requested to do so by, or with the written consent of, the individual concerned or their authorised representative.

Mr. Lidington

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) in how many asylum cases since 1 May 1997 an applicant has been successful after the Home Office had pleaded that the application should be refused under Article 1F(b) of the 1951 Convention; [142455]

(2) how many applications for asylum awaiting an initial or appeal decision have been made by people who (a) have been convicted of and (b) have been charged with a serious criminal offence in their country of origin; [142453]

(3) how many applications for asylum in each of the last five years have been refused under Article 1F(b) of the 1951 Convention on the grounds that the applicant had been convicted of a serious non-political criminal offence outside his country of refuge. [142454]

Mrs. Roche

I regret that this information could be obtained only by examination of individual case records and is, therefore, available only at disproportionate cost.

Mr. Lidington

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many(a) family and (b) non-family asylum applications made since 1 April received an initial decision within two months. [142429]

Mrs. Roche

37,095 asylum seekers made applications between 1 April 2000 and 30 September 2000 of which 2,890 were families.

Approximately two thirds of new substantive family applications lodged between 1 April 2000 and 30 September 2000 had an initial decision within two months. Information on non-family applications is not at present available.

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