§ Mr. Jim CunninghamTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department under what circumstances an immigrant or asylum seeker is able to have visits from family members abroad. [10111]
§ Angela EagleThe Immigration Rules make provision for visits to the United Kingdom. To qualify for entry as a visitor, applicants must demonstrate that they are genuinely seeking entry as a visitor for the period stated, that they have sufficient funds to support and accommodate themselves and any dependants without working or recourse to public funds, and that they will leave the United Kingdom at the end of the visit. The maximum period allowed for a visit is six months.
§ Mr. CoxTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people seeking asylum have been dispersed to other areas of the UK from London in each of the last three years. [14730]
§ Angela EagleThe information is not available in the form requested.
Asylum seekers were not dispersed centrally before April 2000.
Information recorded by the National Asylum Support Service (NASS) shows that as at the end of July 2001, 28,1301, 2 asylum seekers, including dependants, were being supported in NASS accommodation outside of London after dispersal.
The number of these asylum seekers who were in London prior to dispersal is not available. NASS currently does not hold statistics on the location of asylum seekers before they are dispersed by NASS. Statistics are only available on the areas that asylum seekers are dispersed to.
1Figure rounded to the nearest 10
2Cases which have had their support terminated are excluded from this figure
874W
§ Denzil DaviesTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many applications for political asylum in the United Kingdom were made in the three months to(a) 1 October 2001 and (b) 1 October 2000. [14310]
§ Angela EagleThe table provides the information requested for the latest three months for which data are available, and for the corresponding period in 2000.
Applications for asylum to the United Kingdom, excluding dependants, May-July 2000 and May-July 20011, 2 Month Applications 2000 May 6,725 June 6,545 July 6,870 Total May-July 20,140 2001 May 5,290 June 5,300 July 5,975 Total May-July 16,570 1All data rounded to nearest 5 The monthly data shown may not sum to three-monthly totals due to rounding. 2 Provisional Information on asylum applications and initial decisions is published regularly in the annual statistical bulletin "Asylum Statistics United Kingdom", a copy of which is available in the Library of the House, and from the Research Developments and Statistics (RDS) website http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/irrunigrationl.html. Data for the period July to September 2001 will be published on 30 November. Revised monthly data for 2000 are available at http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs/asylumrev2k.pdf.
§ Mr. Jon Owen JonesTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what assessment he has made of how many(a) refugees and (b) those with special immigration status in each of the last five years have medical qualifications; [14313]
(2) what plans he has to fast-track (a) refugees and (b) those with special immigration status with medical qualifications through English language classes; [14316]
(3) what assessment he has made of the cost of a fast-track system to teach (a) refugees and (b) those with special immigration status with medical qualifications to speak English. [14317]
§ Angela EagleWe are aware that a number of the refugees who come to the United Kingdom are highly skilled and many have professional experience in the medical sector. However, asylum applications are judged solely on the basis of whether the applicant is genuinely fleeing persecution. Information about professional skills which are not relevant to the asylum claim, are not therefore collected on arrival.
We have no current plans to fast-track refugees or those with exceptional leave to remain, with medical qualifications, through English language classes. But we want to be able to identify the types of intervention that will assist people to gain employment quickly in their field of expertise, if they are given the right to remain in the United Kingdom.
875WThere is close co-operation between the Home Office and the Department of Health and other agencies to look at how we can do more to identify people with medical qualifications at an early stage. For example, over the last year, the Department of Health has worked with the Refugee Council to set up a voluntary refugee doctor database, which now contains the details of over 400 refugee doctors. In addition, the British Medical Association has been encouraged to prepare guidelines for clinical attachments for overseas and refugee doctors. This will help to provide valuable experience of the national health service and help preparations for language and clinical skill tests.
§ Mr. WoodwardTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many asylum seekers, previously under care of local authorities while under 18 years of age, upon reaching 18 have been dispersed to each of the NASS-designated dispersal areas. [14717]
§ Angela Eagle[holding answer 15 November 2001]: The information requested is not available. The figures recorded by National Asylum Support Service (NASS) for the dispersal of asylum seekers do not show the number of asylum seekers who were previously treated as an Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Child (UASC).
Under the Children (Leaving Care) Act 2000, local authorities continue to have duties and powers in respect of UASCs who have been accommodated under section 20 of the Children Act 1989 until they are at least 18 and to assist them until they are at least 21. The Government's policy of dispersing asylum seekers would have made these duties difficult to implement. It has therefore been agreed that with effect from 1 October 2001, except in exceptional circumstances. MASS will not seek to disperse those young people who have been accommodated by the local authority under section 20 of the Children Act 1989 and who reach the age of 18 without a final decision being reached on their asylum claim.
§ Mr. WoodwardTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Hull, North (Mr. McNamara), 3 July 2001,Official Report, column 100W, on asylum seekers, what assessment he has made of the reasons for the increase between 1999 and 2000 of refusal of asylum applications on the basis of non-compliance. [11974]
§ Angela Eagle[holding answer 5 November 2001]: A higher proportion of applications were refused on grounds of non-compliance in 1999 and 2000 than had previously been the case. The increase was due partly to the stricter enforcement of the 10 day deadline for return of the Statement of Evidence Form (SEF) and partly to administrative problems which led to a backlog of correspondence within the Immigration and Nationality Directorate and some flawed refusals as a consequence. We have made a number of changes over the past 12 months to improve our administrative processes and reduce flawed refusals. These include the introduction of a dedicated PO Box for the return of completed SEFs, and adjustments to internal procedures to ensure that the receipt of SEFs is registered on a database.
We have also taken steps to improve asylum applicants' understanding of the asylum process and of the importance of meeting the time limit. We have done this by simplifying the explanatory leaflet which is sent out 876W with the SEF, and by making it available in the 33 languages spoken by most asylum seekers in the United Kingdom. The SEF form has also been simplified. Non-governmental organisations were consulted about these improvements.