§ Mr. WilsonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) if there is a recommended or statutory period during which police forces should retain interview notes and case documents before they are destroyed;
(2) if he will make it his policy to issue guidance that no police interview notes or case documents should be destroyed for as long as a person is imprisoned on conviction of the crime involved;
800W
Table 1 Spouses and fiance (e) in the Indian sub-continent applying for entry clearance for settlement in the United Kingdom Number of persons or percentage Husbands 1st quarter 2nd quarter 1990 3rd quarter 4th quarter Year 1991 1st quarter New Delhi (including Calcutta) Applications received1 70 90 80 60 290 70 Applications granted2 60 50 50 40 200 40 Applications refused initially 40 20 30 40 130 50 Refusal rate (percentage)3 n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. 35 n.a. Bombay (including Madras) Applications received1 100 70 50 40 270 100 Applications granted2 60 40 60 30 190 30 Applications refused initially 50 40 50 50 200 40 Refusal rate (percentage)3 n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. 44 n.a. Dhaka Applications received1 140 150 160 160 610 130 Applications granted2 40 70 60 50 220 70 Applications refused initially 90 70 100 80 340 60 Refusal rate (percentage)3 n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. 58 n.a. (3) if he will list the practice of each police force in England and Wales for the retention of interview notes and case documents in serious cases.
§ Mr. Peter LloydThere is no such statutory or recommended period. The policy on retention of interview notes and case documents is a matter for each chief officer of police.
Information on the practice of individual forces is not held centrally. At present we have no plans to issue guidance to police forces.