§ Mr. SandersTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence if his Department operates a monitoring exercise of persistent inquirers for information. [42629]
§ Mr. SpellarWe do not monitor inquiries in such an exercise centrally. We do, however, monitor correspondence from the public sent to Ministers to determine our performance in responding to it. Where a correspondent has persistently corresponded with the Department on a particular issue and has been given the fullest possible answer, several times, it is our practice to send a formal letter stating that no further purpose will be served by continuing the correspondence. This decision is taken by an official at Grade 7 level or above and in accordance with Exemption 9 of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information: Voluminous or vexatious requests.