asked Her Majesty's Government:

Further to the answer by the Lord Bassam of Brighton on 29 June (HL Deb, cols. 1318–20), why it is considered discourteous to provide information that is to be given as evidence to a Select Committee in the House of Commons in response to a Question for Oral Answer tabled in the House of Lords.[HL6754]

The director general of the Immigration and Nationality Directorate made a commitment to provide an update to the Home Affairs Select Committee (HASC) before the end of June with the best available information on the foreign national prisoners released without due consideration for deportation. It would not have been correct to pre-empt this update before the director general had fulfilled her commitment which was given to the HASC as early as was practically possible on29 June. The Home Secretary ensured that a copy of the director general's letter was placed in the Library of the House on the same day.