HC Deb 06 January 2003 vol 397 cc59-60W
Mr. Letwin

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what discussions Home Office officials other than those referred to in the Home Office Statement on Peter Foster had with(a) the Chief Immigration Officer at Luton Airport and (b) the IND Removals Process Team on (i) 2 and (ii) 3 December on the subject of Peter Foster; [87461]

(2) what gave rise to the discussion between the Chief Immigration Officer at Luton and the Removals Process Team on 3 December referred to in the Home Office statement on Peter Foster; [87462]

(3) in relation to the Home Office Statement on Peter Foster, what discussions the Immigration and National Directorate officials who had contact with Ministers about the case had with the officials in the Immigration and Nationality Department Removals Process Team; who alerted Immigration and Nationality Department officials to media interest in the case, and why they did so; what discussions the Chief Immigration Officer had with the Removals Process Team prior to his arguing that there was no need to delay removal until 18 December; and what factors had led Immigration and Nationality Department officials to conclude that the removal did not need to be delayed until 18th December. [87374]

Beverley Hughes

As my earlier statement on the events of 31 August to 4 December 2002 indicated, the only contact between Immigration and Nationality Directorate (IND) officials involved in the case and ministerial staff was the request for, and provision of, a factual account for Ministers of where the case stood by officials in the IND Removals Process Team. The acknowledgement in response to this asked for further updates as appropriate.

The IND Removals Process Team was alerted to media interest in the case by the Home Office Press Office who requested information to enable them to respond to enquiries from the media.

The Removals Process Team contacted the Chief Immigration Officer at Luton Airport to obtain the necessary information. In the second such conversation, on 3 December, the Chief Immigration Officer indicated that for the reasons given in the statement of events, i.e. that with the application for judicial review refused there was no reason to delay removal, he intended to set removal directions for the first available flight on or after 6 December.