§ Mr. SproatTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what was the average time taken by the Ministers in her Department, including herself, to answer letters from hon. Members, in each of the first three quarters of 1992, measuring the time from the receipt of the letter to the dispatch of the substantive reply.
§ Mr. SackvilleWe aim to reply within 28 days of receipt, and we actively monitor performance against this target. The information is shown in the table.
Average clearance time (calendar days) Number of letters received 1 January 1992 to 31 March 1992 25.93 4,866 1 April 1992 to 30 June 1992 18.03 3,320 1 July 1992 to 30 September 1992 23.75 4,073