§ Mr. BakerTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) if he will establish for what reason assurances given by telephone by the office of the Minister of State to the hon. Member for Lewes on(a) 3 January and (b) 15 February that a reply to the hon. Member's letter of 22 September 2000 concerning his constituent Mr. George Tripp, would be dispatched shortly, have not N en implemented; [155563]
(2) for what reason no reply had been received by 21 March by the hon. Member for Lewes to his letter of 22 September 2000 to the Minister of State, concerning his constituent Mr. George Tripp; and if he will make a statement. [155562]
§ Mrs. RocheI replied to the hon. Member's letter on 22 March. I am sorry for the delay which seems to have been caused in part by the papers being misdirected within the Immigration and Nationality Directorate. It is normal practice for Private Office staff to monitor the progress of Ministers' cases and to chase outstanding replies. When they informed the hon. Member in January and February that a reply would be sent shortly, they were acting in good faith on the basis of available information. I am sorry that this information proved to be inaccurate. A draft 491W reply was received in my Private Office at the beginning of March which I signed off. A further short delay was again caused by an apparent misdirection of the papers.
§ Mr. WinnickTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when the hon. Member for Walsall, North will receive a reply to his letter of 31 January regarding a constituent, Ref: 2093/1. [1534901
§ Mrs. Roche[holding answer 13 March 2001]: I wrote to my hon. Friend on 23 March 2001. I am sorry I was unable to send him an earlier reply.