§ Mr. Parryasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what is the approximate time it takes his Department to reply to a letter from an hon. Member; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Fowler[pursuant to his reply, 20 May 1986]: we aim to reply to the majority of letters within four weeks. In 1985, Ministers here replied to nearly 35,000 letters—an increase of about 50 per cent. on the previous year. Nevertheless, we continue to seek ways of improving the speed of our replies.