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Home Office

Answer

Mr. Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many applications for asylum were refused in an initial decision in each year since 1997; and how many of these were subsequently allowed on appeal. [93325] Beverley Hughes: The tables show the number of asylum applicants refused in an initial decision in each year from 1997 to 2001 and the number of appeals allowed in each of those years. Initial asylum decisions in the United Kingdom1 by year 1997-2001 _________________________________________________________________________________________________. Number of principal applicants Cases considered under normal procedures3 Backlog clearance exercise4 Initial Granted asylum Granted ELR Refused Granted asylum Refused under decisions2 or ELR under backlog backlog criteria criteria5 1997 36,045 3,985 3,115 28,945 -- -- 1998 31,570 5,345 3,910 22,315 -- -- 1999 33,720 7,815 2,465 11,025 11,140 1,275 2000 109,205 10,375 11,495 75,680 10,325 1,335 20016 119,015 11,180 19,845 87,990 -- -- _________________________________________________________________________________________________. 1 Figures rounded to the nearest five, with * = one or two. 2 Information is of initial decisions, excluding the outcome of appeals or other subsequent decisions. 3 Cases considered under normal procedures may include some cases decided under the backlog criteria. 4 Cases decided under measures aimed at reducing the pre 1996 asylum application backlog. 5 Includes some cases where the application has been refused on substantive grounds. 6 Provisional data. Not all initial decisions to refuse an application result in an appeal. It is estimated that around 77 per cent. of refusals of applications made in 2001 resulted in an appeal, and that around a fifth of those appeals were allowed. The appeals allowed figures given in the following table do not necessarily relate to the refusals in the same year. These could be obtained only at disproportionate cost by examination of individual case records. _________________________________________________________________________________________________. Appeals received by the Appeals Appeals received by the IAA3 Total determined4 Support Section2 1997 20,950 22,385 21,090 1998 14,320 15,440 25,320 1999 6,615 7,775 19,460 2000 46,4190 28,935 19,395 20016, 7 74,365 47,905 43,415 Appeals determined by adjudicators Allowed Dismissed Withdrawn Total As % of total Total As % of total Total As % of total determined5 determined5 determined5 1997 1,180 (6) 18,145 (86) 1,720 (8) 1998 2,355 (9) 21,195 (84) 1,770 (7) 1999 5,280 (27) 11,135 (57) 3,050 (16) 2000 3,340 (17) 15,580 (80) 475 (2) 20016, 7 8,155 (19) 34,440 (79) 825 (2) _________________________________________________________________________________________________. 1 Figures (other than percentages) rounded to the nearest five. Numbers might not add up due to rounding, 2 Figures for 1997 to 2000 are based on manual counts of data received in Appeals Support Section of the Home Office. Some cases are received elsewhere in the Home Office before being forwarded to ASS and so may be counted in a later month than when they arrived in the Home Office. 3 Figures for 1997 and 1995 represent the number of appeals sent to the IAA by the Home Office. 4 Based on information supplied by the Lord Chancellor's Department. Determinations do not necessarily relate to appeals received in the same period. 5 Percentages based on total determined excluding without foundation appeals referred to Secretary of State for further consideration. Based on data supplied by the Presenting Officers Unit within the Home Office (October 1999-December 2001). 6 Appeals received by the Appeals Support Section based on electronic sources. 7 Provisional figures. Asylum statistics are published quarterly. The latest published figures give information up to and including September 2002. The next publication giving figures up to and including December 2002 will be available from 28 February 2003 on the Home Office Research Development and Statistics Directorate website at http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigration1 .html.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

93325; 398 c908-9W;398 c902-4W

Session

2002-03

Subjects

Appeals Asylum Applications

Contains statistics

Yes

Link

View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk