§ Mr. Arthur Lewisasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department why it took him until 28th July, 1971, to reply to the communication sent to him on 14th June by the hon. Member for West Ham, North, in view of the fact that the reply was only to confirm the length of prison sentence, as stated in the original letter, awarded to prisoner No. 203422; and whether in future he will see that information which is readily available is sent to Members without a time lapse of more than six weeks.
§ Mr. CarlisleBecause the terms of the sentences were in dispute it was necessary to make inquiries of the court. I regret that, because of a clerical error in the Department, these took longer than they should have done.