HC Deb 27 October 1997 vol 299 cc731-2W
Mr. Flynn

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) how many letters have been passed on to her Department's correspondence unit in each month since May 1997; and if she will make a statement; [12936]

(2) how many and what percentage of correspondence answered by her Department's correspondence unit receives a full response in (a) a week or less, (b) one to two weeks,(c) two to three weeks,(d) three to four weeks, (e) between one and two months, (f) over two months and (g) over six months; and if she will make a statement; [12934]

(3) how many and what percentage of correspondence answered by her Department's correspondence unit receives a holding reply prior to a full response; [12933]

(4) how many people are employed (a) full-time and (b) part-time in her Department's correspondence unit; [12937]

(5) under what circumstances correspondence sent to her Department is passed on to the correspondence unit; and if she will make a statement. [12935]

Mr. Denham

The information is not available in the format requested. Such information as is available is as follows.

During the period May to September 1997, departmental Ministers received around 25,000 letters from hon. Members, members of the public and others. This compares with around 15,000 letters received by Ministers during the same period last year. The figures for each month are as follows:

align="center">Total letters received
1996 1997
May 3,244 4,124
June 3,003 5,458
July 4,043 6,948
August 2,149 4,374
September 2,897 4,136
Total 15,336 25,040

A correspondence section attached to Ministers' offices, which has 13 full-time staff, receives all correspondence and seeks advice from officials, including those in the policy correspondence unit. Other units and officials elsewhere in the Department also deal with correspondence.

Our target is to reply to all letters within 20 working days. Ministers reply personally to about 30 per cent. of letters. The target response time has been achieved for 42 per cent. of letters in the last five months. Detailed figures are shown in the table:

Ministerial replies issued
align="right">Number of days
Up to 20 21–40 40+
May
Number 68 0 0
Per cent. 100 0 0
June
Number 278 58 0
Per cent. 83 17 0
July
Number 556 525 76
Per cent. 48 46 6
August
Number 485 569 214
Per cent. 38 45 17
September
Number 349 629 368
Per cent. 26 47 27

1. Figures for turn around times of correspondence answered by officials are not available.

2. Figures for the number of holding replies are not kept but all letters are acknowledged shortly after receipt.

We remain committed to answering all correspondence within 20 working days and are taking active measures to reduce turnaround times.

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