§ Mr. VazTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to his answer of 16 July 2001,Official Report, column 45W, on visa cases, when it became the practice not to disclose details of individual visa cases in a public forum; and for what reason. [18628]
§ Mr. BradshawIt is a well-established general practice not to disclose the names of applicants or details of individual visa applications on confidentiality grounds. This practice is in accordance with Exemption 12 of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information and reflects the Government's obligations under the Data Protection Act 1998. I refer my hon. Friend to his answer of 22 March 2001,Official Report, columns 316–17W.