§ Mr. WinnickTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is the average time taken by the Chief Executive of the Benefits Agency to provide a substantive reply to letters from hon. Members writing on behalf of constituents. [55949]
§ Angela EagleThis is a matter for Peter Mathison, the Chief Executive of the Benefits Agency. He will write to my hon. Friend.
Letter from Mark Fisher to Mr. David Winnick, dated 22 October 1998:
33WThe Secretary of State for Social Security has asked Peter Mathison to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking, what is the average time taken by the Chief Executive of the Benefits Agency to provide a substantive reply to letters from hon. Members writing on behalf of constituents. As Mr. Mathison is away from the office I am replying.The Agency aims to reply to 80 per cent. of correspondence within 20 working days. However, the average time taken to reply to letters over the last three months has been 21.78 working days. This is too long but it is due to the volume of correspondence the Agency has been receiving. Correspondence has increased by 35 per cent. over the first six months of this financial year, compared with the same period last year. Additional resources have been put in place to clear the cases faster and we fully expect an improvement in the next few weeks.I hope you find this reply helpful.