§ Mr. Arthur Lewisasked the Lord Advocate whether he will give the average time taken by his Department to send formal acknowledgements of receipt and replies to letters sent to him generally and by Members of Parliament in particular; how these times compare with a stated period as long ago as may be conveniently recorded; and what action he has taken or intends taking to expedite these replies to the taxpayers and their elected representatives.
The Lord AdvocateFormal acknowledgements are issued on the day of receipt of letters sent to me, and every effort is made to reply within 14 days. If the necessary investigations cannot be completed within that period interim replies are normally sent at regular intervals until my investigations are completed and I am in a position to reply fully.
Comparison with earlier periods shows little change in the time scale for dealing with letters in my departments. Recently, however, I wrote to all Scottish Members of Parliament suggesting that they address letters on prosecution matters to me at the Crown Office, Edinburgh, so that any delay in receipt of such letters which might be caused by their having been addressed to me at the House of Commons or at my London Office could be eliminated.