MR PHIL WOOLAS MP, MR KEVAN JONES MP, MS LIN HOMER AND MR JOHN PITT-BROOKE

5 MAY 2009

  Q40  Chairman: That is very helpful. I am very grateful for the way in which you have approached this evidence session, Mr Woolas. You did say that you will be working with this Committee in order to try and look at these proposals. What is your timetable for putting forward the proposals that you think will demand the support of the House because clearly that is what you want to do?

  Mr Woolas: What I would like to request of you is that there is a timetable whereby between now and early June we have an analysis of the statistics. I am conscious that MPs have been bombarded with claim and counterclaim on the statistics and on the financial consequences of that. We would like to share our expertise and offer you the possibility of discussions with our officials so that you have confidence in the figures and are aware of the advice that we have been getting. Secondly, the Home Secretary gave a commitment that we would now consider the 1,500 outstanding appeals by the end of the month.

  Q41  Chairman: That is the end of May?

  Mr Woolas: Yes. We hope we can do that in order that we can apply the guideline lessons, bearing in mind Mr Prosser's question about giving guarantees as best we can not to deport people. Do not think that if somebody fails under these guidelines we will put them on a plane; we will not. That will allow us to have the statistics in one place and the lessons from the review in one place in order that we can then, with your help, bring proposals to the House before the summer recess based on the clear view of the House of Commons last Wednesday.

  Q42  Chairman: On dealing with the cases, Ms Homer is obviously delighted that she is getting the additional resources to process 1,500 cases by the end of May. Those of us with large immigration caseloads would urge on you, Minister, giving her even more resources so she does not write to us every week and say she is not going to be concluding the legacy cases until 2011. She must be delighted. This is clearly a priority for the Government. You are saying to this Committee that by the end of May every outstanding case will be dealt with, are you?

  Ms Homer: I am absolutely happy to confirm that. There obviously may be some individual cases where the applicant wants to put information in front of us that will take them a bit longer. So if somebody wanted time to produce more medical evidence or things like that we would be flexible, but we believe we can look at all of those cases by the end of the month.

  Q43  Chairman: So where there is political will to clear the backlog it certainly seems to happen.

  Mr Woolas: We are clearing the backlog, Chairman. As we report to you regularly, it is getting much better and the Home Secretary is determined that it will get even better still.

  Mr Jones: The MoD is also keen to provide its figures and its experts for the Committee to meet with in a seminar or whatever the Committee wants to do so that it can go through the figures that I have been given as the Minister responsible. In the spirit of co-operation both departments would like to make the offer to do that.

  Chairman: I will put it to the Committee at the end of this session, but I am sure members of the Committee will want to be working with the Home Office and the Ministry of Defence in order to make sure that this matter is dealt with. Provided that the Minister replies to our letters quicker than the six months it took him to reply to the letter of 4 November, we are very happy to co-operate. May I thank both the Ministers and Mr Pitt-Brooke and Ms Homer for coming to give evidence today.