§ Mr. SandersTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he will reply to the letter of 24 July from the hon. Member for Torbay regarding Mr. Tuci of Chelston, Torquay. [10137]
§ Angela EagleI wrote to the hon. Member on 30 October. I am sorry I have been unable to send an earlier reply.
§ Mr. John TaylorTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will reply to the letter to him dated 21 September from the hon. Member for Solihull concerning the company known as A & N Trimmings Ltd. [8680]
§ Mr. DenhamI replied to the hon. Member's letter of 21 September on 19 October.
§ Annabelle EwingTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what was, for each year since 1995, the average response time for providing a substantive answer to(a) hon. Members' correspondence, (b) correspondence from members of the public and (c) written parliamentary questions in the (i) House of Commons and (ii) House of Lords; [7007]
(2) what was, for each year since 1995, the total number of (a) letters from hon. Members (b) letters from members of the public and (c) parliamentary questions from (i) hon. Members and (ii) Lords dealt with by his Department;
722W
Table 1: Written Parliamentary Questions (House of Commons) Number of ordinary written question Percentage more than one month Percentage more than three months Average response time in days Number of named day written questions Percentage more than one month Percentage more than three months Average response time in days 1995 1,968 1 1 5 1,591 0 0 2 1996 1,615 2 0 5 1,187 1 0 3 1997 1,515 0 0 4 1,300 0 0 2 1998 2,222 0 0 4 1,251 0 0 1 1999 2,200 0 0 5 1,661 0 0 1 2000 1,947 0 0 4 2,063 0 0 2 20011 1,136 0 0 4 1,000 1 0 2 1As at 20 July 2001 what percentage took (A) more than one month and (B) more than three months to provide a substantive answer; and if he will make a statement. [7008]
§ Mr. BlunkettMy Department receives large amounts of correspondence from hon. Members and members of the public. We aim to send a substantive reply to all letters as soon as possible. I am determined to achieve a high level of performance in dealing quickly with correspondence.
We are working with our information technology partners to develop next summer a customer contact centre which will radically change the way we handle letters, e-mails and telephone inquiries. In the short term we are implementing a number of organisational and process changes to bring about improvements in the quality and timeliness of replies and to prepare for the contact centre.
General information on the volumes of correspondence received across Whitehall and on overall performance is published by the Cabinet Office. Figures for 2000 were published on 6 April 2001, Official Report, column 324W, and on 19 July 2001, Official Report, column 454W.
The Home Office also receives a high number of parliamentary questions each Session and takes its responsibilities for answering them seriously. This is reflected in the performance levels indicated in the tables, which are, in the main, within the recommended response times required by both Houses. The Home Office has, since 2000, had a performance indicator of answering 95 per cent. of parliamentary questions within target. In the most recent financial year for which figures are available—2000/01—the figure achieved was 94 per cent.
The tables show the number of written parliamentary questions answered by the Home Office in the House of Commons and the House of Lords respectively since 1995; the percentage of those questions which took more than a month to provide a substantive answer; the percentage of questions which took more than three months to provide a substantive answer; and the average response time in days from the point at which the question is due for answer (ie the date on which it appears in the order book). The figures for questions in the House of Commons have been broken down in terms of questions which were for ordinary written and named day answer respectively. 723W
Table 2: Written Parliamentary Questions (House of Lords) Number Percentage more than one month Percentage more than three months Average response times in days 1995 219 0 0 8 1996 340 0 0 9 1997 367 2 0 8 1998 607 0 0 8 1999 573 1 0 9 2000 579 2 0 9 20011 135 4 0 8 1 As at 20 July 2001
Homicide of children under one year 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 Number of victims 16 28 30 42 37 Son/daughter (including adopted) 13 21 23 28 25 Stepson/daughter (including child of suspect's cohabitant/lover) 0 1 2 5 4 Other family (including foster children) 0 0 0 0 1 Friend, ex-friend 0 0 0 1 0 Professional (suspect killed customer or client in the course of carrying out their occupation) 1 1 0 1 0 Other known (acquaintance) 0 1 3 4 0 Not known (insufficient information) 0 0 0 1 0 No current suspect 2 4 2 2 7 Total 16 28 30 42 37 Outcome principal suspect—convictions Murder 5 1 5 5 3 Manslaughter 7 11 14 12 2 Infanticide 1 4 4 7 0 Suspect died 0 2 0 0 0 Acquitted/proceedings discontinued 0 1 1 1 0 Suspect committed suicide 0 1 1 0 0 Number of proceedings on advice of DPS 0 4 1 2 1 Other (eg under age) 0 1 0 0 0 Court proceedings pending, in progress 1 0 3 14 24 No suspect 2 3 1 1 7 Total 16 28 30 42 37 Statistics on homicides cover the latest published period and are as at 11 September 2000. Figures are subject to revision (usually downwards) as cases are dealt with by the police and by the courts, or as further information becomes available.
§ Margaret MoranTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many child deaths where domestic violence is a factor were recorded in each police authority since such statistics were collated. [10461]
§ Mr. DenhamStatistics on the homicide of children
Table 1: Offences currently recorded as homicide for children less than 16 years where the relationship of the victim to the principal suspect is that of son or daughter Police force 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 Avon and Somerset 2 0 3 1 3 3 0 0 0 1 1 4 Bedfordshire 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 2 0 1 1 2 Cambridgeshire 1 2 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 2 Cheshire 1 3 0 0 0 1 2 1 1 0 0 0 Cleveland 1 0 1 0 3 1 1 0 0 0 1 1 Cumbria 3 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 Derbyshire 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 1 1 1 Devon and Cornwall 0 3 2 3 0 1 0 2 1 3 1 1 Dorset 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 1