Written question asked by William Bain (Labour) on Monday, 15 March 2010, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 17 March 2010. It was answered by Phil Woolas (Labour) on Thursday, 25 March 2010 on behalf of the Home Office.

Asylum

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what changes in staffing levels at the UK Border Agency have been made to handle the caseload of (a) legacy asylum cases and (b) standard asylum applications since 2007.

Answer: The UK Border Agency has anticipated the need to increase resources in line with its targets and has recruited sufficient case owners in each of its regions to continue to improve the time taken to reach an initial decision.The UK Border Agency's regions are now fully responsible for the development of the required flexible work force, and will be investing in case owner development and managing regionally-based recruitment campaigns as necessary so that staff can carry out a variety of functions and respond to fluctuations in intake.

Secondary information