HC Deb 27 October 2003 vol 412 cc116-7WS
Mr. Chope

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the reasons were for the delay in transferring the letter of 3 July, on behalf of Mr. R. A. Forde, from the hon. Member for Christchurch to the Department for Constitutional Affairs. [133536]

Caroline Flint

The letter was received in the Home Office on 8 July 2003. The delay in transferring the letter to the Department of Constitutional Affairs was principally due to officials wrongly identifying the appropriate Department to which the case should be transferred. Additional delays were caused by a failure to obtain a swift response from the other Departments when they were invited to accept the correspondence.

I am determined to see an improvement in the Home Office's performance in this respect. Officials are now reviewing the department's systems to prevent this sort of unacceptable delay from recurring. More widely, the Home Office is working with other departments so that robust protocols are in place for dealing with the effective and timely transfer of correspondence.

Mr. Kaufman

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he will reply to the letter to him dated 11 September from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton, with regard to Mr. Muhammad Rafique. [133838]

Mr. Blunkett

I wrote to my right hon. Friend on 23 October 2003.