§ Mr. WilshireTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his answer of 1 March,Official Report, columns 580-581, if he will make a statement as to the grounds on which the charges incurred by individual airlines under the Immigration (Carriers' 112W Liability) Act 1987 are treated as commercially confidential.
§ Mr. Nicholas Baker; Administration of the Immigration (Carriers' Liability) Act involves the Home Office in sensitive discussions with individual carriers. These are conducted on a commercial in confidence basis. To disclose the nature of the discussions, including the level of charges, would represent a breach of that confidentiality, and could jeopardise both the carriers' commercial operations, and our own debt recovery programme.