§ Mr. SteenTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many officials he employed(a) full-time and (b) part-time in his Department in each of the last three years to answer letters sent to him from hon. Members; and what was the estimated overall cost of replying to them in each of the last three years. [5616]
§ Mr. BurtThe information is not available in the format requested.
Departmental Ministers receive, on average, over 20,000 letters a year from hon. Members. Depending upon the subject matter, the responsibility for preparing the reply is spread across the Department and its agencies.