§ Ms ArmstrongTo ask the President of the Board of Trade what is the published recommended response times within which his Department is expected to reply to letters from the public. [3004]
§ Mr. LangThe published targets for letters for ministerial reply are as follows:
- Substantive reply sent within 10 working days: 77 per cent.
- Substantive reply sent within one calendar month: 98 per cent.
For other letters, individual management units and agencies within the Department are free to set their own targets and performance measures as part of the MINIS process. There is no recommended standard, but all performance measures and targets are monitored and reviewed annually in MINIS to ensure that they are challenging and will lead to continued improvements in output and performance.
More detailed information about individual management units, performance measures, including timeliness targets for responding to correspondence from the public are published annually in the Department's MINIS documents. Copies of MINIS 94 and MINIS 95 are available in the Library of the House. Agencies' targets are also published in their annual reports.