§ Mr. Rhodes Jamesasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will announce details of the scheme for reviewing exclusion orders made under the Prevention of Terrorism (Temporary Provisions) Acts 1974 and 1976.
§ Mr. WhitelawMy predecessor announced during the debate on the renewal of the Prevention of Terrorism (Temporary Provisions) Act 1976 on 21 March 1979 that he would institute a system for the review of exclusion orders three years after their making. He gave this undertaking in response to a recommendation made by the right hon. Lord Shackleton in his report on the operation of the prevention of terrorism legislation. I propose to honour this undertaking.
Each person who has been made the subject of an exclusion order will be entitled to have his case reconsidered three years after the making of the order. Where his current address is known, a letter will be sent to him asking if he wishes to have his case reviewed and inviting him to provide certain basic information. Review will be dependent upon a response from the excluded person.
Where the current address of the excluded person is not known, it will be 381W for him to apply to the Home Office to have his case reviewed. Such applications should be addressed to:
The Under-Secretary of State
Police Department
Home Office
Queen Anne's Gate
London, SW1H 9AT.
I shall reconsider each case where the excluded person has requested review and will decide in the light of all the circumstances whether the order can with safety be revoked. Anyone excluded in the future will be informed at the time of exclusion of his right to have his case reviewed after three years.
Exclusion orders made by the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland will be subject to corresponding arrangements for review made by my right hon. Friend.