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Home Office

Answer

Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many asylum seekers have been refused support by the National Asylum Support Service under sections 55 or 57 of the Nationality Asylum and Immigration Act 2002 (a) in total and (b) in each month since January. [124915] Beverley Hughes: The information is not available in the form requested. Section 55 of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 came into force on 8 January 2003, restricting the availability of National Asylum Support Service (NASS) support to those asylum seekers who make an asylum application as soon as reasonably practical. Of the total (4,365) cases referred to NASS for a Section 55 decision in the first quarter of 2003: 2,850 were refused NASS support on the grounds that their claims were not made as soon as reasonably practicable. 325 were granted MASS support on the grounds that they were made as soon as reasonably practical. 685 were exempted from consideration under Section 55 on the grounds of being a family application. 505 were exempted from consideration under Section 55 to avoid a breach of ECHR rights. Following the decisions of the High Court and Court of Appeal, a number of decisions made early in the quarter are now being reviewed to ensure compliance with the current decision making process. Information on Section 57 cases is not available.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

124915; 409 c54-5W

Session

2002-03

Subjects

Asylum Applications Finance Refugees National Asylum Support Service

Contains statistics

Yes

Link

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