§ Mr. BercowTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the answer to my hon. Friend the Member for Bury St. Edmunds (Mr. Ruffley), of 22 March 2001,Official Report, column 317W, on visas, how many of the cases in which the Minister for Europe intervened related to (a) his constituency and (b) the Indian sub-continent. [156356]
§ Mr. Vaz[holding answer 30 March 2001]: (a) None. (b) I have overturned 34 decisions related to the subcontinent since October 1999. This represents 0.01 per cent. of over 308,000 applications received in the sub-continent in that period.
§ Mr. SpringTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs on how many occasions(a) he and (b) the Minister for Europe have replied personally to representations by hon. Members concerning refusals of visa applications lodged in (i) Islamabad, (ii) Delhi and (iii) Bombay since 1999. [156529]
§ Mr. Vaz[holding answer 2 April 2001]: Hon. Members' representations about visa refusals are not recorded separately. The information requested could be collected only at disproportionate cost by examining all the case files for the posts in question since 1999.