§ Mr. Arthur Lewisasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science whether she will take action to ensure that when Members of Parliament and the general public write to her Department they are not kept waiting for up to eight weeks for replies on straightforward matters.
§ Mr. van StraubenzeeEvery effort is made by the Department to deal with correspondence as quickly and effectively as possible. It is the practice to send interim replies when detailed inquiries are needed which may delay a final reply. If the hon. Member has any particular case in mind where excessive delay has been incurred perhaps he would let me have details so that I can look into it.