To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many asylum-seeking children are in care. (50668)

The latest estimate is that approximately 5,500 unaccompanied asylum seeking children are receiving care and support from local authorities in he United Kingdom. This estimate is based on summary claims submitted by local authorities to the National Asylum Support Service in spring 2006 for reimbursement of the costs of supporting them. A precise figure can not be determined on this basis as some local authorities will have received separate funding, not from the Home Office, for a small number of accompanied children who have been taken into care.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people refused asylum in each of the last five years were subsequently granted exceptional leave to remain; and how many were granted (a) one year’s exceptional leave, (b) two years’ exceptional leave, (c) three years’ exceptional leave, (d) four years’ exceptional leave and (e) five or more years’ exceptional leave. (91979)

The requested information on the length of stay granted for exceptional leave to remain, humanitarian protection or discretionary leave to remain after an asylum application has been refused could be obtained only at disproportionate cost by examination of individual case records (humanitarian protection and discretionary leave to remain replaced exceptional leave to remain from 1 April 2003).

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many Zimbabwean citizens are applying for asylum in the UK; and if he will make a statement. (92199)

Information on asylum applications by nationality is published quarterly and annually. Copies of these publications and others relating to general immigration to the UK are available from the Library of the House and from the Home Office Research Development and Statistics Directorate website at http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigration1.html.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many initial decisions in asylum applications to the Immigration and Nationality Directorate were overturned in each of the last five years. (92482)

Information on asylum appeals is published quarterly and annually. Copies of these publications and others relating to general immigration to the UK are available from the Library of the House and from the Home Office Research Development and Statistics Directorate website at http://www.home office.gov.uk/rds/immigration1.html.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what (a) number and (b) percentage of asylum seekers received permission to stay in the UK (a) upon first application and (b) on appeal in the latest year for which figures are available. (92759)

Information on asylum initial decisions and appeals are published quarterly and annually. Copies of these publications and others relating to general immigration to the UK are available from the Library of the House and from the Home Office Research Development and Statistics Directorate website at http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigration1.html.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much of the money being provided for immigration enforcement by 2010 will be spent in (a) Gravesham and (b) Kent. (92440)

Under the IND review, enforcement and compliance resource will be doubled by April 2009. This resource will be deployed flexibly to enable us to most efficiently meet changing operational demands and it is not possible to confirm the proportion which will be allocated to any geographic area.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) refugees and (b) immigrants of ethnic Kurdish origin entered the UK each year between 2000 and 2005. (91574)

The requested information is not available.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the nationality is of babies born in the UK to unaccompanied asylum-seeking young people. (92716)

Under section one of the British Nationality Act 1981, a child born in the United Kingdom will be a British citizen at birth only if at least one parent was then a British citizen or was settled in this country. For the purposes of the Act, a parent will have been “settled in the United Kingdom” if ordinarily resident here and not subject to any restriction under the immigration laws on the maximum length of his or her stay.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many unaccompanied young people are seeking asylum in (a) Oxfordshire, (b) the south east and (c) the UK. (92718)

Asylum seekers apply to be granted refugee status in the UK rather than specifically in England, Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland. Asylum applications data are not available at regional level.

Information on unaccompanied asylum seeking children is published quarterly and annually. Copies of these publications and others relating to general immigration to the UK are available from the Library of the House and from the Home Office Research Development and Statistics Directorate website at http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigration1.html.