Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of the number of people who have suffered torture abroad and are awaiting her Department's decision on their claim for asylum; and if she will make a statement.

The current Home Office system does not centrally record the basis of an asylum claim. The data requested could only be provided at disproportionate cost by examination of individual case records. We aim to decide all straightforward asylum claims within 6 months, however there will be some claims which are more complex, including those who have suffered abhorrent acts such as torture. We aim to decide these cases within 12 months.