§ Mr. VazTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) if he will list the numbers and names of organisations invited to meet Mr. Colin Harnett and Mr. Satish Malik when they visited Leicester in October;
(2) if he will place in the Library a copy of the notes taken by his officials during the visit of Mr. Colin Harnett and Mr. Satish Malik to Leicester in October;
(3) what was the cost to the taxpayer of the visit to Leicester in October of Mr. Colin Harnett and Mr. Satish Malik; what was the purpose of the visit; what was the number of organisations attending the meetings; and on what date hon. Members for Leicester were informed of the visit;
(4) whether Mr. Colin Harnett and Mr. Satish Malik during their visit to Leicester in October 1989, sought the 635W views of the public concerning (a) the Salman Rushdie affair (b) the effectiveness of hon. Members for Leicester in representing their constituents and (c) the police;
(5) which officials from his Department visited Leicester during October; and on what date.
§ Mr. John PattenAs part of their normal duties (which include visits to all parts of the country), officials from the equal opportunities and general department make occasional visits to regional areas of the Commission for Racial Equality in order to improve their awareness of local community relations. On 17 and 18 October 1989, Mr. Colin Harnett, Mr. Satish Malik and Miss Pamela Johnson made such a visit to the commission's Leicester office. They were joined for the first day only by Mr. Stephen Rimmer of the police department.
At the request of the Home Office, the arrangements for the visit were made locally by the commission for Racial Equality and comprised meetings with the commission's staff, the officers and members of the Leicester Council for Racial Justice, officers of Nottingham and Wellingborough community relations councils, and separately with individual members of the Muslim communities. In additon the police arranged a meeting with the deputy chief constable of the Leicestershire constabulary and some of his officers, also attended by officers of the commission and Leicester Council for Racial Equality.
Discussions at these meetings covered a broad range of community relations issues at both national and local level. These included the impact of the issue surrounding the publication of the book "The Satanic Verses" and the relations between the police and the ethnic minority communities. I am informed that views about the effectiveness of hon. Members for Leicester were not sought at any time.
It would be neither necessary nor appropriate to inform hon. Members in advance of visits by officials in pursuance of their duties and this was not done in this instance. There will be no official report of the visit, which cost £360.80 in officials' expenses. Information on visits made by other officials from this Department to Leicester during October is not readily available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.