§ Fiona MactaggartTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he intends to commission a formal study of the pre-sift system at overseas posts. [25686]
§ Mr. BradshawI have instructed the Joint Entry Clearance Unit to arrange a review of the pre-sift process, as recommended by the Independent Monitor for entry clearance in his recent report.
§ Fiona MactaggartTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if guidance has been sent to overseas posts about the authenticity of documents with(a) spelling and (b) grammatical errors as a result of the report of the Independent Monitor. [25685]
§ Mr. BradshawEntry Clearance Officers are trained to assess the authenticity of documents, including whether the standard of the English used in them is consistent with that which could reasonably be expected of the originator. In addition, further guidance on this matter is currently under consideration.
§ Fiona MactaggartTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what action he has taken in response to the proposal by the independent 925W monitor that future statistics on entry clearance applications should allow refusal rates to be ascertained by reference to (a) gender and (b) age group. [25684]
§ Mr. BradshawThe entry clearance software at overseas posts cannot produce statistics by reference to gender and age group. We are considering whether a revised version of the software, capable of doing so, can be developed and provided to posts this year.