§ Mr. HealdTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many parliamentary questions have been tabled to his Department for written answer on a named day since 1 October 2002; and what percentage received a substantive reply on the requested date. [86993]
§ Maria Eagle[holding answer 12 December 2002]: From 1 October, out of 675 questions tabled to my right hon. Friend for written answer, 246 questions were for answer on a named day up to and including 12 December. Of these, 154–63 per cent.—received a substantive reply on the named day. During the same period, the hon. Member tabled 74 questions to the Department, all of them for answer on a named day. Up to 12 December substantive replies had been issued in respect of 45 of them in an average time of 4.75 working days.
We are committed to providing hon. Members with timely and accurate answers to parliamentary questions, although where questions prompt further analysis it is not always possible to provide information to the named day deadlines.