§ Mr. ChopeTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many formal notices his Department has received in the last year from the Parliamentary Ombudsman expressing an intention to carry out an investigation; and in respect of each notice how long it took to respond. [18764]
§ Angela Eagle[holding answer 27 November 2001]Information on the outcome of statutory investigations which were concluded during 2000–01 are set out in the Parliamentary Ombudsman's Annual report for 2000–01, copies of which are available in the Library, or on the Parliamentary Ombudsman's website at www.ombudsman.org.uk/pca/document/par01/index.htm.
Between 1 April 2001 and 31 October 2001, the Home Office has received seven new statutory statements of complaint from the Parliamentary Ombudsman. So far, we have responded to six of these cases, and the average time taken to respond overall is 27 and a half days.