Correspondence (Hansard, 17 December 1993)

§ Mr. Jack

The Ministry keeps central records of the time taken to reply to Ministers' correspondence, but does not have a central record in relation to letters replied to by civil servants.

This Department's target is for Ministers to reply within 21 days of receipt to letters from hon. Members and noble Lords. In the past 12 months, Ministers received 11,053 of these letters and 7,516—68 per cent.—were replied to within 21 days. Our records do not indicate how many replies were sent within 15 days and correspondence is not generally acknowledged.

Correspondence dealt with solely by executive agencies is a matter for which responsibility is delegated to them and I have therefore asked the chief executives to reply to the hon. Gentleman direct.

Letter from Guy Stapleton to Mr. Michael Meacher, dated 17 December 1993: The Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food has asked me to reply to your Parliamentary Question about the speed of the Intervention Board's replies to correspondence. The Agency's target when letters require an answer from the Chief Executive is for me to reply within 10 working days of receiving a letter. Correspondence is not routinely acknowledged. The percentage of replies within this deadline in the last year was 89.7 per cent.

Letter from Dr. Julian Walsh to Mr. Michael Meacher, dated 16 December 1993: The Minister has asked me to reply to part (b) of your question concerning acknowledgements and replies of correspondence. The ADAS Agency keeps central records of the time taken to reply to Chief Executive's correspondence with MPs but does not have central records related to letters replied to by its staff. The ADAS target for despatch of reply to Chief Executive correspondence with MPs is ten working days. The percentage of such letters replies to within this deadline in the last year was 100 per cent. If it is anticipated that a substantive reply will take more than five working days to despatch, all correspondence is routinely acknowledged.

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Letter from Dr. P. I Stanley to Mr. Michael Meacher, dated 17 December 1993: In its Charter Standards Statement the Central Science Laboratory (CSL) stated its aim to answer correspondence within three weeks of its receipt. Where a full reply cannot be given within this time scale an interim response is sent as soon as possible within the three week period and the reason for the delay is given together with the name and telephone number of the person dealing with the correspondence. CSL's Charter Standards Statement was published in July 1993. All staff were alerted to the need to adhere to this standard and office procedures have been introduced to ensure that correspondence is dealt with efficiently. Our records do not indicate how many replies were sent within 15 days and we do not acknowledge correspondence as a matter of routine.

Letter from T. W. A. Little to Mr. Michael Meacher, dated 17 December 1993: The Minister has asked me to reply to your question about the Ministry of Agriculture and its Agencies response time for correspondence. The CVL carries out the majority of its work on a contract basis for MAFF and other Government and commercial customers. Enquiries tend to be technical, specific and to a named individual. No central record is kept of this. However, the Agency has recently set a target for replies to general enquiries relating to our work. Our aim is to provide a full reply within fifteen working days. If it becomes evident that a delay is likely we advise the correspondent immediately. Since this arrangement is a new procedure we do not yet have the historical records to judge our performance against this target. These will be available in 1994.

Letter from G. K. Bruce to Mr. Michael Meacher, dated 17 December 1993: The Pesticides Safety Directorate aims to deal efficiently and helpfully with all correspondence received. The central Information Section received 3,567 written enquiries in the period 1 April to 30 November and 96 per cent. of these were acknowledged within five days. Our records to not indicate how many substantive replies were sent within 15 days but every effort is made to respond quickly. Our Policy Group deals with Ministers' correspondence for MAFF on pesticide issues and observes the standards set by the Ministry in respect of response times. We do not have central records of other correspondence dealt with by the staff of the Agency.

Letter from J. M. Rutter to Mr. Michael Meacher, dated 16 December 1993: The Minister of State has asked me to reply for the Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD) to your Question about the response time for correspondence in the Ministry's Agencies. The VMD receives approximately 11,500 items of external correspondence each year. Unless an immediate reply is appropriate, all should receive an acknowledgement within five days. The length of time taken to provide a substantive reply where one is required will vary dependent on the nature and complexity of the issues raised. For those letters sent on behalf of Ministers, in the last year 97 per cent. received a reply within 21 days. Our records do not indicate how many of these replies were sent within 15 days.