HL Deb 16 March 2000 vol 610 cc224-5WA
Lord Dubs

asked Her Majesty's Government:

What arrangements exist for asylum seekers to submit material in support of their claim for asylum. [HL1581]

Lord Bassam of Brighton

The White PaperFairer, 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 when the claim is made. In those cases, applicants are issued with 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.