To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what conferences have been hosted by the Immigration and Nationality Directorate in the last 12 months; and what the cost was of each conference. (103551)

During the last 12 months, the IND has hosted the following conferences for external stakeholders (costs in brackets):

e-borders—Six carriers liaison events (£28,000)

NASS—Dispersal and Healthcare Needs Conference (£11,000)

Social Policy Unit—Refugee Integration Forum Conference and six website launches (£110,000)

Managed Migration—five stakeholder consultation events (£56,000)

Three corporate stakeholder events (£22,000).

These costs are inclusive of venue hire, delegate and audio visual costs but exclusive of staff costs. In addition to these conferences, the IND has held a number of internal staff events and consultation exercises that are not included in this list.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many letters the Immigration and Nationality Directorate received from hon. Members in each of the last 12 months; how many such letters were responded to (a) within 10 days of receipt, (b) within 20 days of receipt and (c) after 20 days from the date of receipt; and if he will make a statement. (106038)

Our target is to respond to 95 per cent. of hon. Members’ letters on matters related to the Immigration and Nationality Directorate within 20 working days. Figures for the number of letters received are published quarterly on the MPs’ area of the IND website. We intend to include figures for responses (and also for emails and telephone inquiries) when the current quarter’s data are published on the website in early January.