HC Deb 24 February 1982 vol 18 c426W
Mr. Skeet

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment how much correspondence his Department has had with hon. Members in the most recent year for which figures are available; and whether this represents an increase or decrease over previous years.

Mr. Heseltine

Annual totals of correspondence with hon. Members are not readily available. However, samples taken from records of ministerial correspondence indicate that letters from hon. Members represent about 60 per cent. of overall yearly totals. On this basis, the following estimates of correspondence from hon. Members have been obtained using 1978 as the baseline.

  • 1978–9,300 letters approximately
  • 1979–11,200 letters approximately (17 per cent. increase over 1978)
  • 1980–16,100 letters approximately (43 per cent. increase over 1978)
  • 1981–14,700 letters approximately (37 per cent. increase over 1978)