§ Mr. Arthur Lewisasked the Secretary of State for Transport on what date he received from the hon. Member for Newham, North-West the communication dated 27th September 1977 making the complaint that his constituent's letter from Mr. M. D. Barnard of 28th May 1976 had not been replied to by that date; why it took him until 1st November 1977 before replying to the hon. Member's letter complaining of delay in dealing with correspondence; and what was contained in this letter which could not have been sent to the hon. Member earlier than 1st November 1977.
§ Mr. HoramMy hon. Friend's letter was received on 28th September 1977. In consequence, it was realised that although his constituent's letter had been acknowledged on 4th June 1976, through an oversight a full reply had not been sent. A reply was sent to the constituent254W on 6th October 1977. I apologise to my hon. Friend for the delay in informing him of this.