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UK Border Agency

N W Region

2nd Floor, The plaza,

Old Hall Street

Liverpool

L3 9QJ

Our Ref:12897

Your Ref:

02/11/2009

Dear Mr Gillstrap

Thank you for your e-mail dated 24/09/2009 in which you ask for the following information:

  1. From 2008 to current, what was the average time taken to decide an EEA residence permit from receipt to case closure.

  1. From 2008 to current, what percentage of applications have been rejected in the population of EEA2 applications.

  1. A copy of the process flow or operational manual used by European Casework staff in managing an application from receipt to disposal.

  1. What internal or external checks are made on EEA2 applications, with reference to high level requirements mentioned in Chapter 5 of the European Casework Instructions

  1. What funding has been allocated to support the hiring of staff to respond to the backlog of European applications, and is this additional funding or at the expense of other departments.

Your request has been handled in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act 2000 as a request for information.

I apologize for the delay in responding to your request

With regards to Question 1 the average time taken to decide an EEA 2 application from receipt to closure since 2008 was 8.7 months (figures taken relate to reports from the period 06/10/08 - 06/10/09).

With regards to Question 2 based on figures from the same period 331 applications, out of a total of 23,137 applications, were rejected. This equates to 1.4% of the overall total.

With regards to Question 3 I can confirm that the only official operational manual used by caseworkers is the European Casework Instructions, which are published on the external UKBA website.

With regards to Question 4 you have requested details of what internal or external checks are carried out on EEA2 applications. I have decided not to communicate this information to you, pursuant to the exemption under section 31(1)(e) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000. This allows us to exempt information if its disclosure would, or would be likely to, prejudice the operation of immigration controls.

If we were to disclose this information it could substantially undermine UKBA's efforts to reduce levels of abuse under the European Regulations. This is because disclosure may enable potential immigration offenders to obtain detailed information on the checks undertaken and thus may enable potential offenders to circumvent the system.

The use of this exemption also requires us to consider whether in all the circumstances of the case the public interest in maintaining the exemption stated above outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.

I have considered the public interest that there may be in the circumstances of this case in disclosing the information to you. There is a public interest in disclosing the information to you as it will increase the transparency of the work of UKBA and the Immigration Service. There is also a public interest in ensuring public confidence in the United Kingdom's immigration controls.

I have also considered the public interest there may be in maintaining the exemption to the duty to communicate. There is a public interest in ensuring the integrity of the United Kingdom's immigration controls. Disclosure would allow the public to assess the effectiveness of our checking procedures and might assist potential immigration offenders to circumvent the United Kingdom's immigration controls. This is clearly not in the public interest.

I have considered whether in all circumstances of the case the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information. I have concluded that the balance of the public interest identified lies in favour of maintaining the exemption because it is in the overall public interest that UKBA is able to maintain the integrity of the United Kingdom's immigration control.

With regards to Question 5 a total of £7.9m was allocated to the NW Region for the pay and non pay costs associated with the accelerated reduction in work in progress levels across all Economic and Family Migration workstreams in the NW Region. This includes European Casework. This is a single budget allocation for the financial year 2009/10. The funding was allocated as part of the standard budget allocation process and it is not possible to determine the effect of this allocation on other areas of government.

If you are dissatisfied with this response you may request an independent internal review of our handling of your request. Internal review requests should be submitted within two months of the UK Border Agency sending a substantive reply to your original request and should be addressed to:

Information Access Policy Team

(Freedom of Information Team)
UK Border Agency
11th Floor - Short Corridor
Lunar House,

40 Wellesley Road
Croydon
CR9 2BY

During the independent review the department's handling of your information request will be reassessed by staff who were not involved in providing you with this response. Should you remain dissatisfied after this internal review, you will have a right of complaint to the Information Commissioner as established by section 50 of the Freedom of Information Act.

Yours sincerely

UKBA

Freedom of Information Team