HC Deb 09 April 2001 vol 366 cc458-9W
22. Mr. Swayne

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the number of applications for political asylum in the last 12 months. [156043]

Mrs. Roche

There were 75,720 asylum applications made from March 2000 to February 2001.

25. Mr. Blunt

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many asylum seekers who were refused asylum were deported in 2000. [156046]

Mrs. Roche

8,980 failed asylum seekers were removed or left voluntarily in 2000.

30. Mr. Amess

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent representations he has received on the criteria for assessing asylum applications. [156051]

Mrs. Roche

My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Home Department receives a number of representations on a wide range of asylum issues, including the application of the 1951 Convention criteria for determining asylum claims.

Each application for asylum is considered on its individual merits to determine whether the applicant can demonstrate a well-founded fear of persecution in a particular country for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion.

31. Mr. Fabricant

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the numbers of asylum seekers in the United Kingdom whose addresses are not known by his Department. [156052]

Mrs. Roche

The precise number of asylum applicants whose address is not known could only be determined by examination of individual case files at disproportionate cost. However, in most cases a contact address is likely to have been given.

32. Mr. David Atkinson

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what his policy is on choice of area for the placement of asylum seekers on the basis of local economic conditions. [156053]

Mrs. Roche

Areas that are to be used as clusters are researched centrally by the National Asylum Support Service and there is a full consultation process to enable local authorities, usually through the Regional Consortia, to have input into the decision making process. Each area is considered on its own particular merits and factors such as economic conditions are taken into account. It is not the intention to exacerbate local economic difficulties but to achieve a fair and equitable dispersal.

Sir Teddy Taylor

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many asylum seekers there are in the United Kingdom who have not yet had their application accepted. [156041]

Mrs. Roche

The number of outstanding asylum applications awaiting an initial decision at the end of February 2001 was 49,690.