Deputy calls for clarity on applications backlog

A politician has called for figures showing the scale of a backlog of population management applications to be made public.

In recent months the Population Management Office has faced criticism over application waiting times and its director, who left his role after it emerged he was based in the UK.

Deputy Rob Curgenven said the office had previously said staff were "working hard to reduce the backlog", but said that was "not itself a measurable outcome".

He has submitted written questions asking Home Affairs president deputy Marc Leadbeater how many applications are outstanding, how long they are taking to process and what is being done to tackle delays.

Curgenven also wants the committee to set measurable targets, such as maximum processing times or a deadline for reducing the backlog.

He questioned why figures could not be released when similar information had previously been made public.

Curgenven said a backlog of 3,430 applications was disclosed in August 2017 and later updated to 1,190, with figures broken down by category.

He asked what had changed "operationally or legally since 2018" to prevent equivalent information being published.

Curgenven has also requested details of any audit or review of the service, including when it is expected to report.

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