Written question asked by Claire Curtis-Thomas (Labour) on Monday, 7 June 2004, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Tuesday, 22 June 2004. It was answered by Lord Browne of Ladyton (Labour) on Tuesday, 22 June 2004 on behalf of the Home Office.

Home Office

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will make a statement on initial training for immigration officers and caseworkers.

Answer: Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on initial training for immigration officers and caseworkers. [177933] Mr. Browne: Initial training for newly recruited Immigration Officers (IDs) consists of six weeks classroom based training for those serving at Ports of Entry or eight weeks for those serving on enforcement duties, which is focused on the role of the IO and covers the Immigration Act and its implementation. Training also includes asylum, human rights, race relations and equal opportunity issues. This is then followed by a period of up to four weeks operational work supervised by a more experienced IO acting as a mentor. Initial training for asylum caseworkers consists of an 11 day training course which covers all aspects of asylum casework and how to deal with human rights allegations raised by asylum seekers. Immediately following this training, caseworkers move directly to a Mentoring Unit where they remain for at least another 11 days to develop their casework skills through the consideration of "dummy" and subsequently "live" cases. After formal training and mentoring, less experienced IOs and caseworkers will continue to receive support (for example from more experienced colleagues and senior officers).

Secondary information