HC Deb 15 March 1994 vol 239 cc587-8W
Mrs. Roche

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many requests he received from hon. Members in(a) 1993, (b) 1992, (c) 1991 and (d) 1990 to exercise ministerial discretion in deportation cases and in refusals to extend the length of visas and in port clearances; in how many in each year the decision of immigration officers was overturned; to how many in each year he replied personally; and to how many the immigration and nationality department replied.

Mr. Charles Wardle

The information is not collected in the form requested. The total numbers of letters and telephone inquiries about immigration matters received from right hon. and hon. Members in the years in question were as follows:

1990 1991 1992 1993
Correspondence
Ministerial replies 8,587 9,000 9,163 8,356
Official replies 677 1,383 1,899 1,928
Telephone enquiries1 901 900 943 829
1 Not including calls to Ministers and private offices.

How many of these approaches contained requests to exercise discretion in individual cases is not recorded separately. Nor is the number of cases in which decisions were changed following representations from hon. and right hon. Members.