§ Mr. LidingtonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) at what level within his Department authority can be given for an application for naturalisation to be treated other than in date order of receipt(a) in respect of initial consideration and (b) during subsequent stages of the process; [149576]
(2) at what level in his Department discretion can be exercised to treat an application for naturalisation other than in date of receipt order. [149577]
§ Mrs. Roche[holding answer 8 February 2001]: Decisions to start consideration of a case other than in date of receipt order can be taken at the normal caseworking level. Decisions to give case priority throughout its various stages have to be taken at Higher Executive Officer level or above.
§ Mr. LidingtonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proportion of naturalisation decisions taken in(a) 1997, (b) 1998, (c) 1999 and (d) 2000 were made within (i) six months, (ii) nine months, (iii) 12 months, (iv)18 months and (v) more than 18 months of the date of receipt of the application. [150056]
§ Mrs. Roche[holding answer 12 February 2001]: Applications for naturalisation concluded under section 6(1) of the British Nationality Act 1981 in a specified time are shown in the table.
475W
Naturalisation decisions Total 6(1) 6 months Percentage 9 months Percentage 12 months Percentage 18 months Percentage 1997 6,125 331 5.4 758 12.0 1,946 31.8 4,594 75.0 1998 22,935 486 2.1 722 3.1 1,935 8.44 9,965 43.4 1999 21,607 1,112 5.1 1,345 6.2 1,819 8.42 4,339 20.1 2000 25,159 1,371 5.4 1,819 7.2 4,733 18.8 15,231 60.5 Notes:
1. Totals for each year are cumulative.
2. 1997 figures are for January to March and October to December only. Due to technical problems other months' figures are not available. The "Total" number also covers only these months.
3. For the same reason, 2000 figures are for January and May—December only. Again, the "Total" number covers only these months.