§ Mr. YeoTo ask the Secretary of St ate for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what criteria she uses to decide which letters from(a) hon. Members and (b) members of the public will receive an answer signed by herself. [7562]
§ Mr. Morley[holding answer 15 October 2001]: A range of criteria——including the position held by the individual concerned, the subject matter and the background to the correspondence——is used to determine whether my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State responds to letters from hon. Members or asks one of her Ministerial team to reply on her behalf. By convention, Privy Councillors only receive replies from fellow Privy Councillors, unless they have expressly written to another Minister.
Similarly, whether or not my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State replies in person to letters from members of the public depends on whether the letter-writer holds a particular position in public life, or if he or she is known personally to the Secretary of State and on the nature and content of the letter.
The hon. Member may be interested to know that since the beginning of January 2002, DEFRA Ministers have received over 4,200 letters from hon. and right hon. Members, and in excess of 45,000 letters from members of the public. The majority of these were addressed to my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State.
584W
§ Mr. BeithTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when she will reply to the correspondence from the right hon. Member for Berwick-upon-Tweed dated 20 June 2001 relating to the future prospects of livestock auctions. [33877]
§ Mr. MorleyA reply was sent on 8 April to the right hon. Member.
§ Mr. PatersonTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when she will reply to the letter of 6 August from the hon. Member for North Shropshire concerning his constituent Ms J. Vernon. [12632]
§ Mr. Morley[holding answer 6 November 2001]: I am sorry for the delay in replying to the hon. Member's letter. A reply was sent on 26 March.