§ Mr. Arthur Lewisasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he is aware that, although promised a communication by his Department before the Christmas Parliamentary Recess, concerning the allegations of nine months of neglect and maladministration 319W on the part of officers connected with the immigration department of the Home Office concerning Mr. K. Patel, made by the hon. Member for West Ham, North, by 7th January, 1971, no such letter had been received; and when this may be expected.
§ Mr. SharplesI wrote to the hon. Member on 5th January, as the hon. Member has acknowledged in subsequent correspondence.
§ Mr. Arthur Lewisasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) why, in view of the fact that all the details were readily available to him, he was unable to give a substantive public reply to the hon. Member for West Ham, North, concerning the admittance into this country of Mr. Kanayalal Patel's fiancée, in view of the fact that this matter has been outstanding for nine mouths;
(2) why he was unable by 21st December to give to the hon. Member for West Ham, North, a full and detailed reply concerning the loss of files, delay and neglect on the part of his Department concerning Mr. Kanayalal Patel and the entrance into this country of his fiancée from India, in view of the fact that the hon. Member was able to obtain this information privately in 24 hours.
§ Mr. SharplesParticulars of this case were not available to me in time to enable me to give a substantive reply before the Recess. I have since written to the hon. Member to explain that the delay in dealing with the application by Mr. Patel's fiancée was due partly to the temporary loss of some of the papers, which I regret, and partly to the need to make extensive inquiries.