Written question asked by Baroness King of Bow (Labour) on Thursday, 26 April 2001, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Tuesday, 8 May 2001. It was answered by Barbara Roche (Labour) on Tuesday, 8 May 2001 on behalf of the Home Office.

Home Office

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate he has made of the numbers who would benefit from the introduction of a concession to all those children who were wrongly refused entry clearance to join their families in the United Kingdom as a result of the ECO deciding that they were not related as claimed; and if he will explain how this figure has been arrived at.

Answer: Ms Oona King: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has made of the numbers who would benefit from the introduction of a concession to all those children who were wrongly refused entry clearance to join their families in the United Kingdom as a result of the ECO deciding that they were not related as claimed; and if he will explain how this figure has been arrived at. [159833] Mrs. Roche: There is no reliable way of estimating the numbers who have been refused entry clearance on the basis that they were not related as claimed and where subsequent information proves that relationship. Neither can we reliably estimate the numbers who would benefit from the introduction of a concession to allow entry clearance in such cases. What we do know is that, in those cases where applicants were refused entry clearance on the basis that they were not related to the sponsor, the decisions of entry clearance officers were taken in good faith on the best evidence available at the time. We also know that, if such a concession were introduced, the pool of potential reapplicants, refused entry clearance over many years, would be very large.

Secondary information