HC Deb 16 March 2000 vol 346 cc262-4W
Mr. Pike

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many appeals against refusal to grant asylum are waiting to be heard; and how many of them were lodged in the last six months and in each preceding six month period. [114682]

Mrs. Roche

At the end of February 2000, a total of 5,615 asylum appeals were outstanding at the Immigration Appellate Authority. This figure includes 3,580 Adjudicator appeals, 310 applications for leave to appeal to the Tribunal and 1,725 appeals to the Tribunal.

Information on the number of appeals against asylum decisions on a quarterly basis, in 1998 and 1997, is given in Table 8.1 of Home Office Statistical Bulletin "Asylum Statistics United Kingdom, 1998", a copy of which is available in the Library. Information covering earlier years can be found in previous editions of the Statistical Bulletin.

It is planned that quarterly figures for the calendar year 1999 will be included in the next Asylum Bulletin which is due to be published in June of this year.

Mr. Gordon Marsden

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the criteria for detention of asylum seekers at Oakington Reception Centre. [115345]

Mrs. Roche

Oakington Reception Centre will strengthen our ability to deal quickly with asylum applications, many of which prove to be unfounded. In addition to the existing detention criteria, applicants will be detained at Oakington where it appears that their application can be decided quickly, including those which may be certified as manifestly unfounded. Oakington will consider applications from adults and families with children, for whom separate accommodation is being provided, but not from unaccompanied minors. Detention will initially be for a period of about seven days to enable applicants to be interviewed and an initial decision to be made. Legal advice will be available on site.

If the claim cannot be decided in that period, the applicant will be granted temporary admission or, if necessary in line with existing criteria, moved to another place of detention. If the claim is refused, a decision about further detention will similarly be made in accordance with existing criteria. Thus, detention in this latter category of cases will normally be to effect removal or where it has become apparent that the person will fail to keep in contact with the Immigration Service.

Mr. Darvill

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what support arrangements exist for asylum seekers to submit material in support of their claim for asylum. [115346]

Mrs. Roche

The White paper 'Fairer, Faster and Firmer—A Modern Approach to Immigration and Asylum' published in July 1998, standardised the period allowed for asylum seekers to submit further material after a substantive interview at five days. We have decided that some adjustment to this policy is needed to deliver faster asylum decisions, while at the same time ensuring that asylum seekers have a proper opportunity to establish their claim.

In the case of applications considered at Oakington Reception Centre, we are arranging for the Refugee Legal Centre and Immigration Advisory Service to provide legal advice on-site. It has been agreed with those organisations that the consideration process should operate so that such advice may be provided both before and after the substantive interview. Other than in very exceptional circumstances, the substantive interview will take place on the third day at the centre and so there will normally be two more days after the interview in which to submit additional representations. The five day period for submission of supporting material will in these cases therefore commence as soon as the asylum application has been made, rather than from the date of the substantive interview.

We have also decided that the five day period for submission of further supporting evidence will not apply to asylum claims where no substantive interview is conducted at the time the claim is made. In those cases, applicants are issued a Statement of Evidence form which they are required to submit to the Immigration and Nationality Directorate within 14 days. We think this gives applicants a reasonable period to set out their claim, and time to seek legal representation if they wish. Where an application is not granted on the basis of the evidence in the Statement of Evidence form, applicants are interviewed and in these cases a decision will be made immediately after this substantive interview.

The five day standard period for applicants to submit further material after substantive interview, as set out in the White Paper, will continue to apply in all other cases.

Discretion will be exercised to permit an extension of the applicable period for the making of post interview representations where exceptional circumstances require—for example, where possible torture victims are identified.

Mr. Gerrard

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to review the policy of considering applications for permission to work by asylum seekers who have been in the UK for six months or more; and if he will make a statement. [114566]

Mrs. Roche

As we announced in the information document "Asylum Seekers Support", which we published in March last year, we intend to end, with effect from 3 April 2000, that element of the employment concession whereby asylum seekers who are appealing against the refusal of asylum are, on application, granted permission to work. However, we have no plans at present to withdraw the remainder of the employment concession whereby asylum seekers who have not received a first determination of their case within six months are, on application, given permission to work. We will, however, be keeping this under review, particularly with regard to whether, in the light of progress in processing all asylum claims within an average of six months, such a concession can continue to be justified.