§ Mr. Ian BruceTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how long on average it takes his Department to answer letters from hon. Members; what target date his Department sets; what percentage receive replies within the target date; and what assessment he has made of how long it takes to deliver a letter after it has been typed. [27033]
§ Mr. DewarMy Department has a target of 17 working days to reply to Ministerial Correspondence and 57 per cent. of correspondence receives a reply within this target. My Department monitors performance against the494W target but does not keep statistics on the average time taken to answer letters from hon Members or on the length of time taken to deliver a letter after it has been typed.