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HOME DEPARTMENT

Refugees

Mr. Stephen Twigg: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what arrangements he is making to assist those refugees recognised by the United Kingdom as in need of international protection to settle successfully in this country; and if he will make a statement [97214]

Mrs. Roche: The Government recognise the immense contribution that refugees have made to our culture and society. We believe that once a decision is made to grant permission to stay, either permanently or on a long term basis, refugees need assistance to build their lives in the United Kingdom to develop their own and their families potential to the full and to contribute to their new host society. I have issued today a Consultation Paper which sets out our proposals to help achieve these aims through partnerships between central and local government, the voluntary sector, local communities, including ethnic minority and refugee community organisations and the refugee communities themselves. Views are invited from

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interested parties on how best to take forward this important work. The Consultation Paper is available in the Library and will also be sent to the main asylum and refugee interest groups and is available on the Home Office internet site: www.homeoffice.gov.uk/ind/assd/assd.htm.

Responses to the Consultation Paper should be forwarded to the Home Office, Immigration and Nationality Directorate, Asylum Support Project Team, Quest House, 11 Cross Road, Croydon CR0 6ER by 6 December 1999.

Police Force Staff

Mr. Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) police officers and (b) civilian staff were employed by police forces in England and Wales for each year since 1970. [96180]

Mr. Charles Clarke: The information requested is set out in the table.

Total police officer and civilian strength,England and Wales, 1970 to 1999

Year	Police Officers (21)	Civilians (22)
1970	92,446	26,061
1971	94,436	28,060
1972	97,943	29,316
1973	100,190	30,047
1974	100,727	32,971
1975	102,738	34,951
1976	107,832	34,551
1977	109,547	34,119
1978	108,170	35,044
1979	111,133	35,762
1980	114,543	37,695
1981	118,102	37,746
1982	119,973	37,891
1983	121,003	38,270
1984	121,053	38,898
1985	120,116	39,194
1986	120,848	40,268
1987	122,236	41,550
1988	124,080	42,350
1989	125,631	44,009
1990	126,777	44,525
1991	127,495	46,361
1992	127,627	47,336
1993	128,290	49,518
1994	127,897	50,229
1995	127,222	51,096
1996	126,901	52,933
1997	127,158	53,011
1998	126,814	52,975
1999	126,096	53,031

(21) Figures are as at 31 March.

(22) As at 31 December. Figures for 1990 and following years are as at 31 March.

Prison Sentences

Mr. Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what was the average length of time served in prison by persons who were convicted in each year since 1970 who have completed their sentences for (a) murder, (b) attempted murder, (c) rape and (d) grievous bodily harm. [96179]

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Mr. Boateng: The available information given in the table relates to those persons discharged from Prison Service establishments in England and Wales since 1978 in respect of those convicted of murder, and since 1992 for other serious offences.

Average time served(23) by year of discharge for selected serious offences, 1978-1988

Average time served (in years)
Year of discharge	Murder	Attempted murder	Grievous bodily harm	Rape
1978	9.1	(24)--	(24)--	(24)--
1979	9.2	(24)--	(24)--	(24)--
1980	10.6	(24)--	(24)--	(24)--
1981	9.8	(24)--	(24)--	(24)--
1982	10.6	(24)--	(24)--	(24)--
1983	10.5	(24)--	(24)--	(24)--
1984	10.6	(24)--	(24)--	(24)--
1985	10.3	(24)--	(24)--	(24)--
1986	11.1	(24)--	(24)--	(24)--
1987	11.4	(24)--	(24)--	(24)--
1988	10.2	(24)--	(24)--	(24)--
1989	11.5	(24)--	(24)--	(24)--
1990	12.2	(24)--	(24)--	(24)--
1991	11.9	(24)--	(24)--	(24)--
1992	12.4	1.2	0.4	2.6
1993	14.4	3.3	0.6	3.2
1994	15.4	3.4	0.6	3.3
1995	14.0	3.5	0.6	3.7
1996	13.1	4.6	0.7	3.8
1997	14.4	3.7	0.7	3.9
1998	14.4	3.0	0.7	3.8

(23) Excluding any time spent on remand custody or following any subsequent recall

(24) Not available

Immigration

Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department in each of the last five years, how many applications for admission by overseas marriage partners of British men and women have been (a) approved and (b) refused. [96041]

Mrs. Roche: Entry clearance data to this degree of detail are collected only for posts in the Indian sub-continent, for applications made by the spouses of persons settled in the United Kingdom. This information is published in Table 2.3 of "Control of Immigration: Statistics, United Kingdom 1998", a copy of which is in the Library.

Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what criteria are being used to refuse admissions to overseas brides and grooms of British men and women. [96032]

Mrs. Roche: An overseas national who wishes to join their spouse for settlement in the United Kingdom must obtain prior entry clearance from a British Diplomatic Post abroad. The United Kingdom-based sponsor may be either a British citizen or a person who is settled here in his or her own right.

An entry clearance as a spouse will not be issued unless the entry clearance officer is satisfied that:

(i) the applicant is married to a person present and settled in the United Kingdom or who is on the same occasion being admitted for settlement;

(ii) the parties to the marriage have met;

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(iii) each of the parties intends to live permanently with the other as his or her spouse and the marriage is subsisting;

(iv) there will be adequate accommodation for the parties and any dependants without recourse to public funds in accommodation which they own or occupy exclusively; and

(v) the parties will be able to maintain themselves and any dependants adequately without recourse to public funds.

Where an entry clearance officer is not satisfied that each of these requirements is met, the entry clearance application will be refused.

A spouse may also be refused an entry clearance under the general provisions of the Immigration Rules (for example, on the grounds that he or she does not have a valid travel document, that they are the subject of a deportation order, that they have been convicted of an imprisonable offence, that it is undesirable to admit them for medical reasons, or that their exclusion from the United Kingdom is deemed to be conducive to the public good).

Asylum Seekers

Mr. Coleman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what percentage of asylum applications processed from 30 June until 1 October have met the targets set down in the Asylum and Immigration Bill (a) of being processed with an initial decision within eight weeks and (b) of being completed within six months; and if he will make a statement. [96258]

Mrs. Roche: The available information is that 15 per cent. of the asylum decisions that were recorded in the period 1 July to 30 September 1999 were taken within eight weeks. The information relates to the length of time between the date an asylum application was lodged and the date of the initial decision.

Mr. Coleman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what support mechanisms in terms of (a) legal advice, (b) interpretation services and (c) other specialist support will be put in place to assist those asylum seekers held at the new reception facility at Oakington. [96197]

Mrs. Roche: Detailed arrangements have not yet been finalised. We will be discussing with all the relevant agencies, including refugee groups, what support mechanisms of this kind will be needed, bearing in mind that applicants will remain at the reception facility for short periods of about seven days.

Mr. Coleman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) single, (b) shared and (c) family rooms will be available at the new asylum seeker reception facility at Oakington. [96196]

Mrs. Roche: The detailed design work is still to be finalised. Separate accommodation in physically separated buildings will be provided for males, for females, and for family groups. Some accommodation units for males will be shared accommodation.

Mr. Coleman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what discussions his Department has had with the local education authorities in Cambridgeshire to ensure that all children of asylum seekers held at the reception facility at Oakington will be offered full-time education. [96198]

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Mrs. Roche: Applicants will reside at Oakington for short periods of about seven days. We will be discussing with all the relevant agencies what facilities need to be provided on site in those circumstances, but we do not envisage that full education facilities will be required.

Fiona Mactaggart: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what is the average length of time that (a) single asylum seekers and (b) asylum seekers with child dependants who applied in each quarter of (i) 1997, (ii) 1998 and (iii) 1999 have waited for the Home Office decision on their case; [96092]

(2) how long on average (a) single asylum seekers and (b) asylum seekers with child dependants whose applications were decided in (i) September, (ii) August, (iii) July, (iv) June, (v) May, (vi) April, (vii) March, (viii) February and (ix) January waited for the decision on their case from his Department. [96091]

Mrs. Roche: The available information in given in the tables. Separate figures for single persons and for asylum seekers with dependant children are not at present available.

Average decision times in months (25), (26) : January-September 1999

Month of decision	All applications	Applications lodged pre July 1993	Applications lodged post July 1993-95	Applications lodged post 1996
January	44	95	52	5
February	42	93	53	5
March	42	92	49	8
April	31	88	49	12
May	27	87	50	13
June	37	86	53	14
July	48	84	55	10
August	49	85	55	10
September	49	88	56	10

Average decision times in months (25), (26), (27) for asylum applications lodged on a quarterly basis: 1997-1999

Quarter of application	Average decision time
1997
January-March	8
April-June	7
July-September	7
October-December	7
1998
January-March	6
April-June	6
July-September	5
October-December	5
1999
January-March	4
April-June	2
July-September	1

(25) The average length of time (in months) relates to the month in which the application was made.

(26) The average length of time (in months) relates to the quarter in which the application was made.

(27) Excluding dependants.

(28) Does not include applications awaiting an initial decision.

Mr. Malins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has made of the number of persons whose immigration and asylum appeals are pending and with whom the authorities have lost contact. [95944]

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Mrs. Roche: We would only know that we had lost contact with an appellant if he or she failed to respond to official communications or failed to attend an appeal hearing. Figures are not collected centrally and it is therefore not possible to give any realistic estimate of the numbers involved.

Mr. Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he expects to meet his target of processing asylum applications within six months. [96937]

Mrs. Roche: The White Paper "Fairer, Faster and Firmer--a modern approach to immigration and asylum" set out our proposals to deliver a more effective asylum system, including deciding asylum applications within an average of two months and determining asylum appeals within an average of four months. We are committed to meeting the White Paper target of achieving this by April 2001.

Mr. Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is his provisional timetable for offering to competitive tender the administration of the asylum voucher scheme and for awarding a contract. [96935]

Mrs. Roche: Invitations to negotiate were issued on 22 October. The contract will be awarded via the European Community negotiated procedures route. It is expected that contracts will be awarded at the end of the year.

Mr. Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is his planned timetable for the establishment of a Next Steps agency for asylum seeker support; and if he will make a statement. [96939]

Mrs. Roche: The support arrangements in Part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Bill will be administered from within the Immigration and Nationality Directorate of the Home Office. It is not intended that this work will be overseen by a Next Steps agency in the first instance. However, the position will be kept under review.

Mr. Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on how he proposes to phase-in the transfer to the planned new arrangements for asylum support of people who will already be asylum seekers on 31 March 2000. [96938]

Mrs. Roche: When the new support arrangements take effect in April 2000, the first priority will be to deal with those claiming asylum and support after 1 April 2000. It is likely that those who are in receipt of social security benefits will remain on those benefits until they get a first negative decision. In the event that this is a refusal and the asylum seekers go on to appeal, they would need to transfer to the new support arrangements.

We are separately holding discussions with local authorities, through the Local Government Association, about appropriate arrangements for the transfer of asylum seekers who are being supported by local authority social services departments.

Mr. Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is his provisional timetable for offering to competitive tender the provision of accommodation for asylum seekers and for awarding a contract. [96936]

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Mrs. Roche: Invitations to tender were issued on 25 October. It is expected that contracts for the supply of accommodation will be awarded at the end of January. It is possible that further competitive tenders will be required. In addition, we are separately negotiating with local authorities about the accommodation that they can make available for supporting asylum seekers.

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