§ Mr. ColemanTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans NASS has to exclude the children of asylum seekers from mainstream education; and if he will make a statement. [31944]
§ Angela EagleMy right hon. Friend the Home Secretary said in his statement to the House on 29 October that the new Accommodation Centres would offer education facilities. We are working with key stakeholders to establish the range of such facilities that will be available to children in the trial centres.
§ Mr. ColemanTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department for how long NASS placed asylum seekers in the Landmark Tower buildings in Liverpool. [31942]
§ Angela EagleThe National Asylum Support Services has one contract with the Landmark Company and this came into effect on 3 April 2000. Asylum seekers were dispersed to the Landmark Tower buildings from 3 April 2000 but dispersals to that location were suspended in early July 2001 and have not yet resumed.
878W
§ Mr. ColemanTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the average time has been over the last six months that NASS has taken to respond to(a) telephone inquiries and (b) written inquiries on applications for asylum. [31940]
§ Angela EagleThe National Asylum Support Service deals with applications for support from asylum seekers.
The information requested is not currently available.
§ Mr. ColemanTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the average time has been over the last six months that NASS has taken to process a claim for emergency accommodation under section 98 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999. [31941]
§ Angela EagleNational Asylum Support Service (NASS) does not process claims for emergency accommodation. Emergency accommodation is provided by the voluntary sector agencies under contract to NASS.
§ Mr. ColemanTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans NASS has to extend the deadline for appeal against a NASS decision to(a) refuse and (b) withdraw support from asylum seekers. [31943]
§ Angela EagleFollowing representations from the Chief Asylum Support Adjudicator, the Immigration and Nationality Directorate (IND) decided to review the Asylum Support Appeals (Procedure) Rules 2000. No timetable has yet been set for this review, but we hope to complete it this year.
§ Mr. ColemanTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many asylum applicants who have been offered dispersal placements outside London have declined the offer of support in each of the last six months. [31948]
§ Angela EagleThe information requested is not available.
It is not currently possible to track the number of National Asylum Support Service (NASS) cases where the asylum seeker has refused the offer of accommodation in the cluster areas.
§ Mr. ColemanTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many unsuccessful asylum applicants have been removed in each of the last six calendar months. [31947]
§ Angela EagleThe number of asylum seekers who were removed from the United Kingdom in the six months to September 2001 is given in the table. Information more recent than September is not yet available.
879W
month Total asylum seekers1removed2,3 Principal applicants removed2,3 Dependants removed2,3 April 830 780 55 May 915 870 45 June 840 730 115 July 920 795 125 August 930 835 100 September 890 760 135 1 Persons who had sought asylum at some point. 2 Provisional figures, rounded to the nearest five. Figures may not sum due to rounding. 3 Includes persons departing 'voluntarily' after enforcement action had been initiated against them and persons leaving under the Assisted Voluntary Returns Programmes run by the International Organisation of Migration (IOM).
Information on the number of asylum removals in the fourth quarter (October to December) of 2001 will be published on 28 February 2002 on the Home Office Research Development and Statistics Directorate website at http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigration 1.html.
§ Mr. ColemanTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the average time has been over the last six months that NASS has taken to process an application for asylum; and if he will make a statement. [31939]
§ Angela EagleThe National Asylum Support Service (NASS) deals with applications for support from asylum seekers. The information requested is currently unavailable. A project is currently under way to set up a procedure for calculating the time taken by NASS to process applications.
§ Ms BuckTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to involve asylum-seeking children and young people in the consultation on the forthcoming asylum White Paper. [31824]
§ Angela EagleI refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Cardiff, North (Julie Morgan) on 4 February 2002,Official Report, column 67W.