Written question asked by Mike Hancock (Liberal Democrat) on Tuesday, 11 December 2007, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 13 December 2007. It was answered by Jim Murphy (Labour) on Monday, 7 January 2008 on behalf of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

Chernobyl: Children

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many Chernobyl-affected children received visas to visit the UK in 2007 (a) prior to 31 August and (b) since 1 September; what his assessment is of the reasons for any difference; and if he will make a statement.

Answer: 3,167 gratis visas were issued to Chernobyl-affected children prior to 31 August 2007, while 111 visas have been issued in the subsequent period to 13 December 2007. The autumn is, historically, a slow period for such applications, 292 such visas being issued in the final four months of 2006. The Chernobyl charities advise that the Christmas holiday period is a busy period and UKVisas anticipated an upsurge in applications at this time. Application rates during this period may have been further affected by the collection of biometric data in Minsk. Furthermore, one charity was, temporarily, asked not to submit applications while investigations concerning one of its former hosts were ongoing. This charity has now been advised that it may resume submission of such applications.

Secondary information