§ 23. Mr. Ian BruceTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proportion of letters from hon. Members to his Department are answered within one month; and what plans he has to speed up this rate.
§ Mr. WaddingtonDuring the final quarter of 1989 about 50 per cent. of letters from hon. Members to the Home Office were answered within one month of their receipt. The underlying trend over recent years has been one of steady improvement in our performance and we hope that hon. Members will see further improvements in our service, not least by their taking increased advantage of the scheme for writing direct to the immigration and nationality department with their more routine inquiries in 869W that area and also by writing direct to local managers about other matters handled away from the centre, where they do not require their letters to be answered personally by Ministers.