To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many legacy cases of indefinite leave to remain are under consideration; what the longest time for a decision to be made on such a case has been; and when she expects the last such case to have been disposed of. (267716)

[holding answer 2 April 2009]: In July 2006 the former Home Secretary informed Parliament that the UK Border Agency had a backlog of around 400,000 to 450,000 electronic and paper records, which were riddled with duplication and errors, and include cases of individuals who have since died or left the country, or are now EU citizens.

Due to the poor data quality of these cases, to identify how many cases will result in the granting of indefinite leave to remain that are currently under consideration would involve disproportionate cost.

The information requested regarding the longest time for a decision to be made on a legacy case is not collated and could be obtained only at a disproportionate cost through the manual examination of individual case files.

The UK Border Agency is aiming to conclude the backlog of legacy cases by summer 2011 and is on track to do so.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when she expects to determine the application for indefinite leave to remain of Zakia Ahmed, reference A1387430, case ID10352843. (268392)

I wrote to the hon. Member on 6 April 2009.