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Immigration

10. Mr. Gwyn Prosser (Dover) (Lab): What assessment he has made of measures he has taken to control (a) illegal immigration and (b) unfounded asylum claims. [178160]

The Minister for Citizenship and Immigration (Mr. Desmond Browne): The measures taken by the Government to control illegal immigration and unfounded asylum claims are subject to continuous and ongoing review. We have achieved a great deal of success in both those areas over the past year.
 
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We have introduced a wide range of measures, such as the expansion of UK border controls in France, the roll-out of new detection technology in France and Belgium, the expansion of the list of nationals who require direct air transit visas and the widening of the airline liaison officer network abroad. Those measures, among others, have all had a significant impact on both illegal immigration and unfounded asylum claims.

The impact of the measures is clearly demonstrated by the 65 per cent. fall in clandestine entry in Kent in 2003 compared with 2002 and the 44 per cent. fall in asylum applications in the first quarter of 2004 compared with the same period of 2003.

Mr. Prosser: I thank my hon. Friend for that answer and for those figures, which reflect the dramatic downturn in the number of people coming across the channel into my constituency where, he will be pleased to know, we held a successful multicultural festival last weekend to celebrate refugee week. Does he share my frustration that, when asylum figures are high and rising, everyone accepts that as the going rate, but when they are low and falling, as they are now, it is difficult to get that message across so the figures are disputed by everyone, including the media and the Opposition? Is there anything that we can do about that?

Mr. Browne: I am grateful to my hon. Friend for his consistently constructive contribution on the issue, which has been difficult for him and his constituents, as those in Dover have suffered greatly from the abuse of this country's asylum system by organised criminals in particular. I am pleased that the people of Dover can celebrate national refugee week, as other people up and down the country celebrate the diversity of the community in which they now live.

I also share my hon. Friend's frustration at the tendency not only not to accept good news, but to wallow in bad news, but the fact of the matter is that we are politicians, and that is world we live in. The problem is that other politicians, some of whom are not that far from me, glory in being able to generate such confusion. They do it in a dangerous way—[Interruption.] One of them has just said that I have missed the question, but I have not; I understood it entirely correctly. The shadow Home Secretary, the right hon. Member for Haltemprice and Howden (David Davis), ought to know exactly what I am talking about because he is a perpetrator of such misinformation.

Mr. Humfrey Malins (Woking) (Con): Last week, we heard some devastating evidence from the Home Office official, Robert Owen, which was supported by many other immigration officers, to the effect that illegal immigration to this country is running at six times the official figure. Given that fact, and given that the Home Secretary himself has said that he has not a clue how many illegal immigrants there are, does the Minister understand why after seven years of this Government the general public have totally lost confidence and trust in their ability to run our asylum and immigration systems with any efficiency?

Mr. Browne: I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for giving me an opportunity to comment in a restricted way on Mr. Owen's evidence in the course of a criminal
 
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case. The comments that I will make are as follows: the case is still ongoing; the gentleman who is sitting to the hon. Gentleman's right, the right hon. Member for Haltemprice and Howden, who purports to want to be Home Secretary, disqualified himself in my view from ever aspiring to that office because of his public comments on that evidence during the currency of a criminal trial. That is an entirely inappropriate thing for a politician to do. What I will say about Mr. Owen is that my understanding was that he was giving evidence about his experience as an immigration officer when he was doing that job—and that was in 1994.

Keith Vaz (Leicester, East) (Lab): I thank the Minister for the courtesy and efficiency with which he deals with individual cases raised by hon. Members, which is a breath of fresh air as far as the Home Office is concerned, but is he absolutely certain that the resources that are being given to the immigration and nationality directorate are sufficient to deal with the backlog that still manifests itself, which of course started under the previous Conservative Government? Do we need to allocate more resources or are there enough to deal with this very difficult problem?

Mr. Browne: I accept my hon. Friend's compliment but not his qualification that that is not characteristic of the way in which my colleagues in the Home Office or, indeed, my predecessors dealt with these issues. I will continue to extend the levels of courtesy that I think are appropriate, to hon. Members across the House and to people outside the House, for as long as I am given the responsibility. I think that 5,000 extra people doing the work is enough, particularly since, as I have said, the number of asylum seekers has reduced significantly. However, there is a long-standing problem of a backlog, which goes back to the beginning of the 1990s when the assault on our asylum and immigration service by organised criminals first began. I am satisfied that the resources and skills are now available to enable us to work our way through that. I ask hon. Members to have patience while we train people to the relevant standard to achieve that.

Asylum Seekers (Benefits)

11. Mr. Tam Dalyell (Linlithgow) (Lab): Pursuant to the oral answer of 10 May 2004, Official Report, column 1, on asylum seekers (benefits), what conveniently available figures he has for the numbers of failed asylum seekers who were destitute and unable to leave the UK immediately for reasons beyond their control who have sought the provision of accommodation under section 4 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999; and if he will make a statement with reference to the case of the constituent of the hon. Member for Linlithgow from the town of Armadale that has been raised with him. [178162]

The Minister for Citizenship and Immigration (Mr. Desmond Browne): Those failed asylum seekers who fit the description provided by the Father of the House in the first part of his question and who have applied for section 4 accommodation will have been offered it. Of those who have been offered section 4 accommodation and accepted it, there are currently around 500.
 
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My hon. Friend's constituent applied for leave to remain in the United Kingdom on human rights grounds on 5 February 2002. His application was refused and he lodged an appeal against that decision in August 2003. The refusal decision is being reviewed. If it is maintained, the appeal will then be forwarded to the immigration appellate authority.

Mr. Dalyell : I thank the Home Office in Croydon for addressing the problem of the constituent referred to in the question, but are there general considerations encapsulated in the rather precise if wordy question on the Order Paper?

Mr. Browne: I am grateful to the Father of the House for his thanks to the immigration and nationality directorate for helping to solve the problem experienced by his constituents, and I shall pass his thanks on to those involved. The people in the IND who work hard to help Members do not always get the thanks that they deserve, even though they sometimes work in difficult circumstances on complicated cases.

My hon. Friend's supplementary question is, I think, designed to reveal the fact that there is a challenge in the support of people whose application for asylum has failed but who cannot for one reason or another return to their country of origin or to the third-party country from which they travelled to the United Kingdom. If they co-operate fully in arrangements for their return and removal there is an opportunity for them to be supported under section 4 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999, otherwise, in my view, which is shared by the House and is in the legislation that will shortly come before us, action will be reinforced. It is not fair to ask the taxpayer to support people who, as a result of their own activities, do not return home when they can do so.

Burglary (Wandsworth)

12. Martin Linton (Battersea) (Lab): What research he has commissioned on the effectiveness of measures to reduce burglary in Wandsworth. [178163]

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department (Fiona Mactaggart): Three projects were funded in Wandsworth as part of phase two of the reducing burglary initiative, which ran from 1999 to 2002. The initiative, including one of the Wandsworth projects, has been evaluated to identify implementation lessons and its findings are due to be published in the summer.

Martin Linton: The Minister will know that the local police division was commended not only on the biggest reduction in burglaries—19 per cent. last year—but on meeting other targets, including getting car crime down 5 per cent. and street crime down 15 per cent. I am glad that the Home Office is conducting research on crime detection methods to see what works best. Wandsworth demonstrates that it is by targeting repeat offenders and the fast turnaround of forensics, epitomised by the story—

Mr. Speaker: Order. The supplementary question is far too long. Could the Minister attempt to reply?
 
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Fiona Mactaggart: I congratulate Wandsworth on its success in reducing burglary, which reflects a national reduction in burglary of 40 per cent. since 1997, and I congratulate the police on that. Wandsworth has received an award for its work, which shows that local police forces working with local communities can tackle the kind of crime that makes people's lives a misery. We are determined to put that at the heart of our strategy to push down crime and reduce burglary by working with the police and local people, and increase the 40 per cent. reduction that we have already achieved over the coming years.

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