asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many applications for assisted repatriation under Section 29 of the Immigration Act 1971 have been received; how many have been approved; how many individuals have left Great Britain under these arrangements since the scheme came into operation; and how many have returned.

Up to the end of December 1974, 604 applications for assistance had been received. Of these 161, covering 550 individuals, had been approved and 144 applicants and their families—491 individuals—had left the United Kingdom. Only four cases are known to my Department in which individuals or families assisted under the scheme have returned to this country.