§ Sir A. Maitlandasked the Secretary of State for War whether he is aware that delays of six to eight weeks regularly occur before replies to correspondence are received from his Department; and whether he will take urgent action to avoid any continuance of such delay?
§ Sir J. GriggI do not think the facts bear out my hon. Friend's assertion. I have made a complete analysis of the 44 cases which he has sent to the War Office in the last year. Excluding four special cases the average time is one-third of that suggested. In two of the four special cases my hon. Friend's correspondent omitted to give a vital piece of information which naturally prolonged the investigaton, while in another—a medical case—a special period of observation was necessary. The fourth was a complicated pension case.