---

Asylum Seekers

14. Mr. Robathan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is his target date for reducing the backlog of asylum seekers to the same level as May 1997. [116798]

Mrs. Roche: We have all but cleared the backlog of pre-1993 cases and expect to clear the backlog of 1993-95 cases by the summer of this year. We expect to start making significant inroads into the backlog of post 1996 cases by late spring of this year, and are aiming for a very substantial reduction in the backlog by April 2001.

25. Ms Ryan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what discussions he has had with local authorities outside the south-east about the policy of dispersal of asylum seekers. [116812]

Mr. Straw: We have had many discussions with local authorities about the dispersal of asylum seekers. The National Asylum Support Service began operating last Monday in respect of all new applicants who claimed asylum at their port of entry.

The new asylum support scheme will be extended to cover asylum seekers who claim asylum in-county, while within the county of Kent, on or after Monday 17 April. The effect of this is that no asylum seeker making a claim for asylum in Kent, on or after that date, will be eligible for support from Kent County Council, or Medway Council. This will, I hope, bring considerable relief to the local authorities in Kent. This is the first stage of the roll-out of the support scheme to all in-country applicants.

Mr. Rammell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the Government's plans to speed up the processing of asylum claims. [116820]

Mrs. Roche: We have already recruited hundreds of new asylum caseworkers in the Integrated Casework Directorate and plan to recruit more; in Croydon, Liverpool and elsewhere. We are also thoroughly overhauling processes across the system from end-to-end and across directorate and departmental boundaries. The provisions of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 will also provide much needed support for the system as a whole.

Mr. Coleman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what amounts each London borough has claimed in excess of the maximum asylum grant available from his Department for (a) single asylum seekers and (b) asylum seekers with children for (i) 1998-99 and (ii) each calendar month in 1999-2000. [117929]

10 Apr 2000 : Column: 64W

Mrs. Roche: We do not hold this information on a monthly basis. 1999-2000 was split into two periods, the first from 1 April 1999 to 5 December 1999 and the second from 6 December 1999 to 31 March 2000. The information for the first period on the excess of claim over Special Grant is set out in the table, subject to audit, for both adults and families. Information on the second period is not yet available. A number of claims have been received and are being processed but I am unable to give the information requested at this stage.

Special Grant--1 April to 5 December 1999

		£
	Excess of claim over grant
Local Authority	Adults	Families
Barking and Dagenham	0	260,610
Barnet	0	608,598
Bexley	40,386	41,022
Brent	0	512,376
Bromley	103,135	76,143
Camden	511,217	1,435,467
Corporation of London	163,100	89,400
Croydon	9,712	29,905
Ealing	0	200,890
Enfield	237,803	233,500
Greenwich	0	0
Hackney	0	125,337
Hammersmith and Fulham	25,547	1,759,243
Haringey	635,425	388,022
Harrow	192,534	306,883
Havering	240,803	85,874
Hillingdon	0	434,519
Hounslow	130,456	220,674
Islington	1,454,744	67,643
Kensington and Chelsea	634,482	999,456
Kingston upon Thames	57,280	300,000
Lambeth	0	0
Lewisham	0	0
Merton	66,879	240,813
Newham	0	0
Redbridge	0	20,798
Richmond upon Thames	1,396,033	1,025,550
Southwark	562,254	191,511
Sutton	193,235	15,340
Tower Hamlets	93,169	15,340
Waltham Forest	0	51,461
Wandsworth	117,384	1,517,907
Westminster	919,220	2,092,003

Dr. Palmer: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department on what criteria asylum seekers are selected for a fast-track system of processing in respect of their claim. [116808]

Mrs. Roche: We are fast-tracking cases which appear to be straightforward or where there are strong public interest grounds for doing so.

Hilda Murrell

15. Mr. Dalyell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will call for a report on the case of Hilda Murrell of Shrewsbury from the West Mercia police. [116799]

Mr. Straw: I understand from West Mercia Constabulary that the case, including the remaining forensic evidence, is subject to regular review.

10 Apr 2000 : Column: 65W

Immigration

16. Ms Oona King: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what measures are being taken to reduce the backlog of immigration applications at the Immigration and Nationality Directorate. [116800]

Mr. Watts: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what progress has been made in reducing the backlog of outstanding immigration cases. [116801]

Mr. Mike O'Brien: The backlog of immigration (that is general and settlement) cases has been reduced from 38,000 in June 1999 to 29,000 at the end of February.

We aim to clear the backlog by July this year. We have streamlined the process for dealing with the intake of after-entry casework. We have introduced revised procedures to speed up the consideration of cases and are allocating around 100 caseworkers to deal exclusively with backlog cases.

Mr. Stunell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what measures are being taken by the Immigration and Nationality Department to speed up the processing of applications for indefinite leave to remain. [117330]

Mrs. Roche: New applications for indefinite leave to remain are currently being completed within about a week of receipt in straightforward cases that do not require any further inquiry or information. Those cases that cannot be decided upon initial examination will from 10 April be sent directly to dedicated caseworking teams for consideration which should help reduce delays caused by cases awaiting allocation to caseworkers for action. The time taken to complete each case will depend entirely upon its complexity.

Mr. Stunell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what criteria are used in assessing claims for indefinite leave to remain made by foreign nationals. [117331]

Mrs. Roche: All applications for indefinite leave to remain are assessed against either the requirements of the relevant categories of the Immigration Rules or the criteria in any specific concessions outside the Rules, or are considered exceptionally in the light of the particular circumstances of the individual case where the application is made on compassionate grounds.

Mr. Stunell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what was (a) the average and (b) the longest time taken by the Immigration and Nationality Department to process applications for indefinite leave to remain first lodged in (i) January 1996, (ii) January 1997, (iii) January 1998, (iv) January 1999 and (v) January 2000. [117329]

Mrs. Roche: The available information, which relates to applications decided in calendar years 1996 to 1998, is set out in the table. There was a reorganisation of caseworking practices at the beginning of 1999, and an analysis of decisions taken subsequently has not yet been undertaken.

The time taken to process an application for indefinite leave to remain in the United Kingdom is affected by a number of factors, including the complexity of individual cases. About 70 per cent. of all new applications are currently being decided within two weeks. New

10 Apr 2000 : Column: 66W

applications for indefinite leave to remain that do not require further inquiry or information are currently being completed within about a week. Applications where further inquiries are needed may take considerably longer. However, streamlined procedures have been introduced throughout the Integrated Casework Directorate to speed up the consideration of all applications and these processes are regularly reviewed.

Year of decision	Average time (in days) to decide applications for indefinite leave to remain
1996	46
1997	53
1998	72

Convictions

17. Mr. Love: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the number of convictions secured in the past three years. [116802]

Mr. Charles Clarke: The latest totals for the number of defendants convicted for indictable offences, summary non-motoring offences and summary motoring offences are:

Year	Number
1996	1,441,000
1997	1,386,000
1998	1,470,000

These figures cover all offences, including the numerically large categories of television and vehicle licence evasion.

---