§ Baroness Anelay of St Johnsasked Her Majesty's Government:
What their plans are to implement the recommendations of the Research Development Statistics Paper 220, on information dissemination to potential asylum seekers in countries of origin and/or transit, including the recommendations (a) to extend UK visas mandate to cover asylum procedures and (b) to expand the United Kingdom membership of the main Immigration and Nationality Directorate user panel to include more representatives of ethnic minority groups and refugee organisations. [HL2892]
§ The Minister of State, Home Office (Baroness Scotland of Asthal)The research findings and recommendations will be considered, along with other research, to inform the Immigration and Nationality Directorate's development of communication activity to potential asylum seekers.
On the recommendation about UK visas mandate, there is no provision within the Immigration Rules to issue a visa to enable a person to seek asylum.
The purpose of the main IND user panel is to provide a forum to discuss a broad range of IND services with key stakeholders to help to improve the level of service provided and share information about developments. We regularly review membership of the panel to ensure that the relevant organisations are represented.