§ Mr. Arthur Lewisasked the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, in view of the fact that he has no knowledge of the time taken by ministerial Departments in replying to letters from hon. Members, whether he will take action to ascertain the average time taken by the various stated Departments in replying to mail sent to them by the taxpayer in general and hon. Members in particular.
§ Mr. St. John-StevasResponsibility for replying to correspondence rests with individual Ministers, who are well aware of the need to respond as quickly as possible. In my reply of 3 April to the hon. Member's previous question on this topic I was indicating that my office does not keep detailed records of response times. If the hon. Member has any particular case in mind I suggest that he brings it to the attention of the Minister concerned.