§ Mr. LidingtonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will publish a revised table of the Immigration and Nationality Directorate's objectives and annual targets as set out on pages 32 and 33 of the IND Annual report 1999 to take account of the conclusions of, and the period covered by, the Comprehensive Spending Review. [132353]
§ Mrs. RocheThe table at pages 32 and 33 of the Immigration and Nationality Directorate (IND) Annual Report 1999 lists the 21 business objectives and targets agreed for IND following the last Comprehensive Spending Review in 1998. They cover the three year period from April 1999 to March 2002. Following the announcement of the outcome of the 2000 Spending Review on 18 July, IND will work to develop similar objectives and targets for the next three years through to March 2004, supplementing those to be published in the Public Service Agreement and the Service Delivery Agreement.
Eighteen updated objectives and targets for this year are listed in the table. More details will be available in the IND Business Plan for 2000–01 which is to be published shortly. A copy will be placed in the Library. Details of IND's objectives and targets for the next three years will be published in future business plans.
The target for initial asylum decisions for this year has been revised upwards to 130,000–150,000 from the 65,000 in the last IND Business Plan. This will substantially clear the backlog. Funding for the increase is being provided as part of the £609 million extra for IND in the current financial year. That funding will also enable IND to increase the number of detention places. This is an essential element in the strategy to meet our target of removing 12,000 failed asylum seekers this year and at least 30,000 a year in the next three years.
These figures reflect the important changes introduced by the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999. All entitlement of new asylum applicants to cash social security benefits ended on 3 April 2000. Public expenditure overall would be significantly higher if such entitlements continued.
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Immigration and Nationality Directorate Objectives and Targets 2000–01 Number Objective Target 15. To increase the number of prosecutions prepared against those facilitating breaches of the Immigration Rules. 115 16. To increase the number of upper/middle enforcement operations. 15/40 17. To increase the number of projects initiated against organised crime. 18 18. To process asylum support claims within agreed timescales (from date of receipt). 70 per cent, within 2 days 100 per cent, within 7 days