§ Mr. LawsTo ask the Secretary of State for Health when he expects to answer parliamentary question ref. 24038, tabled for answer on 19 December 2001. [26811]
§ Ms Blears[holding answer 15 January 2002]: I apologise to the hon. Member for the delay in responding to this question. I refer the hon. Member to the reply that my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State gave my hon. Friend the Member for Blackpool, North and Fleetwood (Mrs. Humble) on 5 March 2002, Official Report, column 192W.
A reply was sent on 21 February 2002, Official Report, column 424W.
§ Mrs. BrookeTo ask the Secretary of State for Health when he will reply to the questions tabled by the hon. Member for Mid-Dorset and North Poole for answer on 21 November 2001, ref. 15786 and 15787, on NHS dentists. [26894]
§ Ms Blears[holding answer 15 January 2002]: I apologise to the hon. Member for the delay in responding to this question. I refer the hon. Member to the reply that my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State gave my hon. Friend the Member for Blackpool, North and Fleetwood (Mrs. Humble) on 5 March 2002, Official Report, column 192W.
A reply was sent on 18 January 2002, Official Report, column 531W.
§ Mr. WeirTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what was, for each year since 1995, the total number of(a) letters from hon. Members, (b) letters from members of the public and (c) parliamentary questions from (i) hon. Members and (ii) Lords dealt with by his Department; what percentage took (A) more than one month and (B) more than three months to provide a substantive answer; and if he will make a statement. [7047]
§ Ms BlearsThe available information is in the table.
1049W
Total number of letters received Percentage of cases that took more than a month to reply Ministerial correspondence 1995 16,121 21 1996 11,376 13 1997 14,547 24 1998 10,648 39 1999 18,346 53 2000 18,621 50 2001 19,655 40 Correspondence from members of the public 1995 — — 1996 23,028 — 1997 19,738 96 1998 52,656 37 1999 29,528 44.3 2000 39,894 19.4 2001 37,928 12.5 I regret that, for parliamentary questions, exact data are not readily available in the form requested because the record management database from which it is drawn is currently not reliable, for the reasons set out in the reply that my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Blackpool, North and Fleetwood (Mrs. Humble) on 5 March 2002, Official Report, column 192W.
§ Mr. KaufmanTo ask the Secretary of State for Health when he intends to reply to the letter to him dated 24 January from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton, with regard to Mr. S. Haslett. [42795]