§ Mr. SproatTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what was the average time taken by the Ministers in his Department, including himself, 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 despatch of the substantive reply.
§ Mr. Howard[holding answer 1 December 1992]: It is not possible to identify from my Department's records an arithmetical average length of time taken to reply to an hon. Member's letter. Figures from my Department will be published in the Official Report, and made available in the House Libraries, early next year, showing the volume of ministerial correspondence from hon. Members in 1992, the targets set for reply and the percentage of replies within target. My Department's objective is to reply within three weeks of receipt, and this target was achieved for 58 per cent. of letters for hon. Members received in the first nine months of this year.
The table shows information for each of the first three quarters of 1992, and the year to date:
Within 3 weeks Per cent. Within 4 weeks Per cent. Within 5 weeks Per cent. 1st quarter 65 84 95 2nd quarter 58 75 90 3rd quarter 48 69 85 Overall 58 76 91