§ Mr. BurstowTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the computer-based correspondence tracking system being piloted in his Department. [98408]
§ Mr. WillsI am determined to build on the progress we are making on improving our handling of correspondence.
The Correspondence Tracking System's (CTS) ministerial correspondence module is part way through a five week live pilot. CTS is built on a combination of scanning, workflow and document management technology. It will allow all incoming correspondence addressed to Ministers or to the Home Office to be scanned on arrival and transmitted around the department electronically. Its use will ensure that no piece of correspondence ever gets mislaid or delayed in the internal mail, and will enable progress to be monitored at all stages of the process.
Subject to final evaluation of the pilot, the module will roll out across the non-Immigration and Nationality Directorate (IND) parts of the Home Office over four 764W weeks from 17 March. The public correspondence module will roll out approximately six weeks later, and the e-mail module approximately four weeks after that. A scoping study is currently under way in IND to establish timescales for the roll out of CIS there.