§ Mr. Knoxasked the Secretary of State for Social Services why the hon. Member for Leek has not received a reply to his letter of 8th June 1978, regarding child benefits and one-parent families, or replies to his letters of reminder of 19th July 1978, 4th September, 1978, 8th November 1978 and 18th December 1978, or a reply to his telephone reminder of 24th October 1978 concerning this matter.
§ Mr. Deakins:I am sorry that the hon. Member has not yet received a reply to this correspondence. I am informed that a reply was prepared to the letter of 8th June 1978, but it is not clear from our records whether or not it was in fact sent, neither is it clear whether the reminders were received by the Department. I am sending a duplicate reply immediately. We 908W do try to ensure that letters from hon. Members are answered quickly and I will take steps to identify what went wrong in this case and ensure that no repetition occurs.