§ Mr. Colin ShepherdTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many letters are received by her Department each year in respect of the problems encountered by the constituents of hon. Members; what is the average time of response and when the hon. Member for Hereford can expect to receive a reply to the letter he sent on behalf of his constituent Mr. Peter Symonds of Llandinabo on 7 December 1993 and about which follow up letters were sent on 4 March and 10 May 1994.
§ Mr. Jack[holding answer 1 July 1994]: The number of letters received from hon. Members enclosing correspondence from their constituents or from noble peers in the last three calendar years and the percentage replied to within MAFF's target of 15 days are set out in the table:
Year Number Percentage replied to within 15 days 1991 9,976 76 1992 10,974 81 1993 11,141 67 Figures are not collected on the average time taken to respond to hon. Members' letters.
The letter of 7 December 1993 from the hon. Member sent on behalf of his constituent, Mr. Peter Symonds of Llandinabo, concerned a commercial appraisal carried out by ADAS. The correspondence was accordingly forwarded to ADAS for reply. However, neither the letter of 13 38W December nor the follow-up letters were received by ADAS and the Chief Executive was therefore unaware that the matter had been delegated until 29 June.
I understand that the chief executive of ADAS replied to the hon. Member's letter on 30 June.