46. Sixth supplementary memorandum
submitted by the Home Office
The Committee has asked a number of further
questions on asylum following the evidence session on 19 November
where I referred to the fact that 97% of adjudicator determinations
in asylum appeals are upheld by the end of the asylum process.
The Committee has asked how this figure was calculated and from
which figures in the Home Office's published asylum statistics
it is derived. This figure is based on the following information.
In the 12 months up to the end of September 2003, there were 74,811
adjudicator asylum decisions. In this period, 1090 asylum appeals
were allowed by the Immigration Appeal Tribunal (1.4% of total
asylum adjudicator decisions) and 995 were allowed at the adjudicator
tier having been remitted from the Immigration Appeal Tribunal
(1.3% of total asylum adjudicator decisions). In addition, in
this period 31 applications for judicial review which were asylum
related were successful and three appeals were granted by the
Court of Appeal. In total, this means 2.8% of adjudicator determinations
in asylum appeals were overturned. These figures are based on
asylum appeals for the 12 month period up to the end of September
2003. These are the latest figures to be published in the Home
Office quarterly statistics. Some of the figures (for example
outcomes of remitted appeals) are not included in the published
figures but are based on internal DCA data. The 97% figure relates
to categories of case dealt with during the twelve month period
rather than a selection of cases seen through from beginning to
end.
The Committee has also asked how the statement
in paragraph 27 of Asylum Statistics United Kingdom 2002
that 75% of appeals brought by appellants were dismissed fits
with figures contain in table 7.2 which show that 2,015 appeals
were dismissed and 5,565 appeals were determined. Paragraph 27
of Asylum Statistics United Kingdom 2002 states that 75%
of appeals at the Tribunal brought by appellants were dismissed.
This is based on numbers of appeals brought by appellants which
were allowed (410), dismissed (1,880), or withdrawn (210) shown
in the lower half of Table 7.2. The 5,565 includes cases brought
by the Secretary of State, as well as cases remitted to the IAA
for further consideration. The Committee also asks whether the
statistics reveal what happened to the 2,700 appeals shown in
table 7.2 as having been "remitted to adjudicators for further
consideration". Cases remitted to adjudicators for further
consideration (2,700 out of a total of 5,565 determinations including
cases brought by the Secretary of State) are excluded from the
calculation since the outcome of such cases will appear in appeal
statistics for subsequent periods.
Beverley Hughes
Minister of State
8 December 2003
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