§ Mr. KaufmanTo ask the Prime Minister if he will examine the various records of Ministers in replying to letters from hon. Members and instruct all ministerial heads of departments to set up specific structures within their departments and private offices for effective and speedy response to such letters. [87696]
§ The Prime MinisterThe fast and effective handling of correspondence from hon. Members is an issue to which I attach great importance. My right hon. Friend the Minister for the Cabinet Office, has recently published statistics showing how individual departments perform against target in handling correspondence from hon. Members, 11 June 1999,Official Report, columns 403–06. My right hon. Friend has also written to Cabinet colleagues inviting those whose Departments performed poorly to take urgent remedial action, if they have not already done so.