§ Mr. Wigleyasked the Secretary of State for Social Services why the letters of the hon. Member for Caernarfon of 26 September 1986 concerning the availability of natural medicines on the National Health Service was not answered until 27 January 1987; what is the average period for his Department's response to correspondence from hon. Members; whether he has sufficient staff in his Department to undertake his responsibilities; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. FowlerI am sorry for the delay in replying to the hon. Member which was caused by control problems within my office. Ministers in my Department replied to nearly 30,000 letters from hon. Members in 1986 and we aim to respond to most within four weeks. I am satisfied that there is sufficient staff to deal with these letters. Many of the letters we receive do, however, require local inquiries to be made, such as with health authorities and local social security offices, and hon. Members would almost certainly get a quicker response if they wrote to the health authority chairman or local social security office manager first where appropriate.
§ Mr. Greenwayasked the Secretary of State for Social Services why he has not yet replied to the urgent letter from the hon. Member for Ealing, North of 9 March; when he expects to do so; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. NewtonI wrote to my hon. Friend on 12 March.