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Home Office

Answer

Mr. Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people were queuing at the public caller unit of Lunar House at 8 am on (a) 6 January, (b) 7 January and (c) 8 January; and how many people were turned away on each day without having their applications dealt with. [90718] Beverley Hughes: There are two public offices at Croydon, the first being that of the Public Enquiry Office (PEO), which enters through the main entrance at the front of Lunar House. There are no records kept of the numbers of those who are initially queuing for the PEO when it opens at 8 am but the covered waiting area can hold between 500 and 600 people at any one time. However, between 6 and 8 January 2003 respectively there were 1,146, 1,153 and 827 people who attended PEO, of which 63, 80 and 72 people on each respective day could not have their cases dealt with immediately. The other queue is that of the Asylum Screening Unit (ASU), which currently enters through a temporary entrance at the rear of the building. According to figures initially compiled for ASU management, at 8 am on 6 and 7 January there were respectively 120 and 300 people waiting in the ASU queue. On 8 January, the date of the introduction of new asylum support arrangements, 80 applicants were waiting in the queue at 8 am. Around 75 applicants (most with addresses) were asked to return the following day.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

90718; 398 c297-8W

Session

2002-03

Subjects

Asylum Applications Administrative delays Croydon Immigration Immigration and Nationality Directorate Lunar House

Link

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