HC Deb 22 July 1999 vol 335 cc625-6W
Mr. Waterson

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he expects to respond to correspondence about Mr. and Mrs. Janneh. [92029]

Mr. Mike O'Brien

I have now written to the hon. Member.

Mr. Alan Williams

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the average time for a substantive reply to be sent to hon. Members' correspondence; what proportion takes more than(a) four weeks, (b) six weeks and (c) eight weeks; and what is his estimate of the number of letters received in a year from hon. Members. [92454]

Mr. Straw

I refer my right hon. Friend to the reply given by my right hon. Friend the Minister for the Cabinet Office to my hon. Friend the Member for Lincoln (Gillian Merron) on 11 June 1999,Official Report, columns 403–06, which sets out departmental performance against the targets set for answering correspondence from right hon. and hon. Members in the 1998 calendar year. More detailed information about the percentage of correspondence replied to within the time scales specified could be provided only at disproportionate cost.