Correspondence

HC Deb 08 December 2003 vol 415 cc243-4W

Mr. Kaufman

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (1) when he will reply to the letter to him dated 6 October from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton, with regard to Mr. Murhtar Ahmed Rana; [140780]

(2) he will reply to the letter to him from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton, with regard to Dorothy Ricketts; [140783]

(3) when he will reply to the letter to him dated 6 October from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton, with regard to Mrs. Shafna Rahman. [140784]

(4) when he will reply to the letter to him dated 6 October from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton, with regard to Sadia Bibi; [140785]

(5) when he will reply to the letter to him dated 6 October from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Mr.Usman Ilyas. [141894]

Mr. Mullin

I would like to apologise to my right hon. Friend for not having replied to his letters of 6 October to my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary about Mr. Murthar Ahmed Rana, Ms Dorothy Ricketts, Mrs. Shafna Rahman, Ms Saidia Bibi and Mr. Usman Ilyas.

As a result of an administrative error a package containing a number of my right hon. Friend's letters was lost while in transit between the Foreign Secretary's office and UK visas, the department responsible for entry clearance matters arising overseas. The letters that were lost have now been identified and copies have been sent to UK visas. I can assure my right hon. Friend that the Foreign Secretary will write to him in the next few days on these cases.

Mr. Steen

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he will reply to the letter from the hon. Member for Totnes of 22 August regarding the continued mining of Indonesian protected forests and the concern expressed by Mr. Rupert Stocks. [142300]

Mr. Mike O'Brien

I apologise to the hon. Member for Totnes and his constituent, Rupert Stocks, for the late reply to his letter. This was the result of an administrative error and I am pleased to say that a letter has now been issued.