§ Mr. Kenneth ClarkeTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what criteria are applied when deciding whether an unsuccessful applicant for political asylum should be granted exceptional leave to remain; and how many people have been granted such exceptional leave since June 1997. [12455]
§ Angela EagleExceptional leave is a discretionary grant of limited leave made by the Home Secretary. Every case is considered on its own individual merits and 93W exceptional leave is normally granted only after an asylum application has been substantively considered and it has been decided to refuse the application.
Exceptional leave may be granted for a wide number of reasons but is mainly granted for compassionate or humanitarian reasons or where there is a specific government policy or concession. Exceptional leave is also granted where removal from the United Kingdom would breach our obligations under the European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (ECHR).
Exceptional leave is granted for limited periods, normally up to four years. After four years, an applicant may apply for settlement in the United Kingdom.
Our current statistical records run from June 1997 to July 2001. During this period, 46,215 people were granted exceptional leave, of which 14,110 were granted under the post July 1993 backlog clearance measures.
Proceedings at magistrates courts for serious motoring offences1 and speeding by offence group within Essex police force area, 1994–99 Number of offences Offence group/type 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 Serious motoring offences1 1—Causing death or bodily harm 13 8 16 30 15 9 2—Dangerous driving 264 252 291 274 293 240 6—Unauthorised taking or theft of motor vehicle 1,123 811 1,061 957 954 1,108 14—Fraud, forgery etc. associated with vehicle or driver records 689 541 405 511 427 373 Total 2,089 1,612 1,773 1,772 1,689 1,730 Speeding 16—Speed limit offences 8,130 6,354 6,528 5,457 5,132 7,019 1Serious motoring offences' includes those motoring offences which are indictable only or triable either way.