HL Deb 04 May 2000 vol 612 c190WA
Lord Hardy of Wath

asked Her Majesty's Government:

What progress has been made in reducing the backlog of correspondence in the visa correspondence unit. [HL2264]

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Baroness Scotland of Asthal)

I am pleased to inform the House that the Visa Correspondence Unit's backlog of correspondence with Members of Parliament has been reduced so that there are now only 45 letters from Members which have not been answered within the 15 working day target, compared to 851 on 27 January. Forty-five is, of course, still too many and we will continue to work to improve our performance.