§ Mr. KaufmanTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) when he intends to reply to the letter to him dated 23 November 2000 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Aras Saleh. [145720]
(2) when he intends to reply to the letter sent to him dated 14 November 2000 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Mr. K. M. Khan. [145721]
§ Mr. WebbTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he expects to answer the letter from the hon. Member for Northavon, acknowledged on 18 August 2000 (Ref. 162520) regarding travellers. [146109]
§ Mr. StrawI apologies to the hon. Member for Northavon for the unacceptable delay in replying to his letter dated 16 August 2000, the receipt of which was acknowledged on 18 August 2000.
The questions raised in the letter were more properly matters for the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions (DETR) than for the Home Office and arrangements were therefore made for the letter to be transferred to that Department for reply.
I regret to say that owing to a failure of our normal procedures, the transfer did not take place and the hon. Member's letter was mislaid in the Home Office.
A second copy of the hon. Member's letter of 16 August has now been received. It was sent on 17 January 2001 to the DETR who have undertaken to reply to him as quickly as possible.