§ 10. Mr. Arthur Lewisasked the Minister for the Civil Service whether he will institute a system whereby Members' letters are formally acknowledged by Departments within one week of receipt; in cases where a final reply cannot be sent if he will arrange for an interim reply to be sent in three weeks; and where by the fifth week a final reply is still not available if he will arrange for reasons to be given to the hon. Member submitting the original correspondence.
§ Mrs. HartI would refer my hon. Friend to the reply my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister gave him on 23rd January.—[Vol. 776, c. 172.]
§ Mr. LewisIt was because that was unsatisfactory that I put down this Question, and the Answer to this is also unsatisfactory. Does my right hon. Friend think it fair that hon. Members should be kept waiting five, six and in some instances 10 or 12 weeks for a reply which in some instances the Minister could have obtained within 24 hours? As this is not a good thing from the constituents' point of view, will the Minister do something to speed up replies?
§ Mrs. HartI agree that if that is the case my hon. Friend has something to complain about, and I hope that he will not hesitate to let me have details of particular instances he has in mind. He will recognise, however, that in some cases delay is inevitable where contact has to be made with local or regional offices. I hope that he will let me know of cases where there is delay.