§ Mr. ChopeTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his answer of 1 December 1998,Official Report, column 131, on immigration, if he will make it his policy to collect information on the number of cases in which he exercises his discretion to grant leave to remain in the United Kingdom to foreign nationals resident in the United Kingdom on the grounds of compassionate circumstances. [69917]
§ Mr. Mike O'BrienNo. There is no operational need to collect these data so the public expense of collecting the information could not be justified.