To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his answer of 18 January 1999, Official Report, column 330, on deportation orders, how many (a) failed asylum seekers and (b) immigration offenders were removed in 1996 and 1997; and how many have yet to be removed. [67338]

The information I gave on improved removals performance on 18 January 1999, Official Report, column 330, in response to the hon. Member?s question on deportation orders, related specifically to removals and voluntary departures following deportation and illegal entry action. That information, therefore, included asylum applicants who were removed as a consequence of such action but excluded all removals under port procedures.The numbers of deportation and illegal entry removals and voluntary departures effected during 1996 and 1997 are given in the table. The figures exclude removals under

port procedures. The latest snapshot, taken on 4 January 1999, indicates that the number of persons against whom deportation or illegal entry action has been initiated but not yet completed stands at approximately 67,000. In the great majority of these cases, however, there exists at least one legal or similar barrier to immediate removal, such as: an outstanding application for asylum or for leave to remain on another basis; appeals; further representations; Judicial Review; documentation problems; custodial sentences; and absconding. These factors serve to limit the rate at which removals can be effected and, in some cases, may result in the granting of leave to remain rather than removal.