UK Border Agency criticised over asylum application progress

Published: Tue, 09 Feb 2010 08:30:00

The UK Border Agency has been criticised over the slow progress being made to improvements in the efficiency of asylum applications. A report by the parliamentary ombudsman Ann Abraham said despite progress being made in some areas there remained the danger that a failure to resolve applications within reasonable timescales continued to have serious implications for the individuals involved, for society in general and the public purse. In the first nine months of 2009/10, the ombudsman received 478 complaints about the agency and reported on 33 investigations of which 97 per cent were upheld in full or in part.

The cases involve applications for asylum, as well as the agency's core immigration and nationality work and applications for residence cards, which confirm rights of residence under European law. Commenting on its efficiency, Ms Abraham said Border Agency still had "a long way to go" to being able to demonstrate it was meeting its principles of good administration and complaint handling. She added progress had been made in recent years but progress slow due to the scale of the problem facing the agency.

"They [the Border Agency] need to make sustained and consistent progress towards their commitment to meeting their service standards, clearing existing backlogs and avoiding them in future – because the implications of them not doing so are serious and far-reaching, both for the individuals caught up in the system and for society as a whole," the parliamentary ombudsman said. "Given the scale of the problem, there can be no short-term fix, and the resolution will need to be founded on clear and consistent priorities, supported by good forward planning and adequate resources."

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