HC Deb 06 June 1995 vol 261 cc86-7W
Ms Hodge

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what policy and procedures exists for dealing with complaints against his Department by members of the pubic; when the policy was last updated; what time limit and target for dealing with such complaints his Department has; and what follow-up procedures exists where complainants are not satisfied with his Department's response to a complaint. [26226]

Mr. Nelson

The Treasury has a complaints procedure in line with the "Open Government" code of practice on government information.

Any complaint against the Treasury by a member of the public would be given very careful consideration, up to the most senior levels if necessary. If the member of the public was dissatisfied with how the complaint had been dealt with, he or she could ask a Member of Parliament to submit his or her complaint to the Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration for investigation and review.

Ms Hodge

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what performance indicators and performance targets there are for measuring the performance of his Department in(a) answering letters from members of the public and (b) answering telephone calls from members of the public; how performance is monitored; and what are the latest figures for performance measures against the target set. [26237]

Mr. Nelson

The Treasury has performance targets for replying to letters from the public but not for answering telephone calls. Wherever possible, information requested over the telephone is given at the time of the call.

The Treasury's targets for Ministerial replies to letters from the public forwarded by Members of Parliament are 15 working days for those matters solely relating to the Treasury; 18 working days for those matters relating to the Chancellor's other departments and 23 working days for those requiring a report from a local office. The targets are monitored by the Treasury's ministerial correspondence unit and published in the Department's annual report, a copy of which is in the Library of the House. In 1994, 14,901 replies were sent, 54 per cent. of which were within the targets set.

The targets for replies from officials on behalf of Ministers are 10 to 15 working days.