§ Mr. BurnsTo ask the Secretary of State for Health when the hon. Member for West Chelmsford will receive a reply to his letter of 3 January concerning Mr. Clive Mortimore; and if he will make a statement on the reasons for the delay in replying. [160632]
§ Mr. DenhamA reply to the hon. Member's letter was sent on the 8 May 2001.
I am sorry that the hon. Member did not receive an earlier reply. The Department's Permanent Secretary/ Chief Executive has written to the hon. Member separately to apologise for the unacceptable delay in replying. The letter of 3 January could not be traced and a copy of the correspondence had to be requested. The Department has now implemented a number of measures to prevent this type of delay from happening again.