Clause 4 - Entry clearance
Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Bill
9:15 am
Evan Harris (Science, Non-Departmental & Cross Departmental Responsibilities; Oxford West and Abingdon, Liberal Democrat)
I certainly share that view. In respect of the Lisbon agreement, the Government's targets fall short of what was agreed at Lisbon in any event. Whether or not Lisbon is realistic, and although the Government stand by it despite their own provisions falling short, the European Union recognises that to be able to compete a country must have a science base and therefore thriving science departments.
The accuracy of visa decisions is a key point of the amendments. I touched on the matter yesterday, but I want to put on the record some of the remarkable figures in the Library's paper of 30 June. In 2003–04 entry clearance officers and visa processing centres around the world received 76,357 applications for settlement in the UK and 2.1 million non-settlement applications, of which 1.6 million were applications for visitor visas. Overall, 81 per cent. of settlement applications and 82 per cent. of non-settlement applications were approved; 15 per cent. of the 2.2 million entry clearance applications received in 2003–04 were made in three visa offices in south Asia—Islamabad, Mumbai and New Delhi, and in those three there were more than 100,000.
The outcome of appeals to immigration adjudicators by category is remarkable. In 2003, 21,000 principal applicants who had been refused entry clearance appealed to immigration adjudicators, of which 11,000—53 per cent.—were subsequently granted entry clearance. The success rate was considerably higher for asylum and other immigration, non-entry clearance, appeals. The figures for refusal of entry clearance show not just that a significant proportion—more than half—of appeals are allowed but that that proportion is increasing. In 1997, 30.5 per cent. of appeals against refusal of entry clearance were allowed; in 2001 it had increased to 41.1 per cent. and in 2003, which is the last year for which the document from which I am reading has figures, it went up to 52.7 per cent. That is a remarkable figure—it is why there has been so much criticism of the quality of initial decisions. I accept that not all appeals were allowed because the quality of the decision per se was wrong, but the in-depth qualitative studies that have been undertaken by the monitor and by the National Audit Office suggest that there is a problem.
The Immigration Advisory Service in particular is concerned about the problems with family visit and student entry clearance appeals. It has provided data to the Library for two financial years—2002–03 and 2003–04. The overall success rate on appeal for students represented by the Immigration Advisory Service was 38 per cent. in 2002–03 and 49 per cent. in 2003–04, and for family visitors the corresponding figures were 79 per cent.—more than three quarters—in 2002–03 and 83 per cent. in 2003–04.
An analysis was made by the independent monitor, who had received those figures from the IAS, which showed that for Bangladeshi, Ghanaian and Indian appellants the success rate was more than 90 per cent. in 2002–03. We should therefore ask whether it is justifiable, when the overwhelming majority of appeals are allowed, to remove the right of appeal from broad categories, although I accept that some family appeals may still be allowed. Such a removal cannot be right. That is why the clause, as currently drafted, is unacceptable. Does the Minister recognise that the recommendations of the National Audit Office and the independent monitor have to be implemented? No doubt he will explain that the Government are implementing the training programme, which was set out in the letter that I referred to yesterday, which is intended to improve initial decisions and thus reduce the number of successful appeals. If that is the case, surely the Minister should consider introducing a ban on appeals—most of which are successful—only when the Government have solved the problems in the quality of initial decisions on entry clearance that were identified by the independent monitor and the independent audit.