§ Mr. Wellbelovedasked the Secretary of State for Social Services why it took his Department from 31 January to 3 June to answer a general inquiry about the pension entitlement of an 80-year-old lady.
§ Mrs. ChalkerI am sorry that my reply to the hon. Member was unduly delayed.
Unfortunately, delays in replying to letters have arisen because of the very large volume of correspondence received by this Department, from hon. Members and the general public. Every letter is given the fullest consideration. In this case, it was necessary to refer the letter back to the manager of the local office dealing with the hon. Member's constituent, to recheck the details of entitlement to benefit. As the entitlement to benefit was exactly as had been explained to the hon. Member in the letter from the local office manager of 29 January, a second check was made by officers of the Supplementary Benefits Commission. The original figures in the letter of 29 January were found correct.
Our aim is to provide thorough replies as quickly as possible, but the speed of replies is governed by the numbers of letters we receive, as well as by their content. The very large volume of letters 506W are being dealt with as speedily as resources allow.