§ Mr. SproatTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what was the averge time taken by the Ministers in his Department, including himself, to answer letters from hon. Members, in each of the first three quarters of 1992, measuring the time from the receipt of the letter to the dispatch of the substantive reply.
§ Mr. Kenneth ClarkeThe figures for the period in question are not currently available in the form requested and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. New monitoring arrangements came into effect on 1 October 1992 and it is my intention to make available in theOfficial Report, early next year, performance figures showing the volume of ministerial correspondence from hon. Members in 1992, the targets set for reply and the percentage of replies sent within target.