§ Mr. HammondTo ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will investigate the reasons that(a) the letter of the hon. Member for Runnymede and Weybridge to the Under-Secretary of State at her Department of 6 November 2001 remained unanswered until 16 April 2002 and (b) the reason for the delay in her Department determining that the question posed in the original letter falls outside its remit. [52401]
§ Dr. HowellsI apologise for the delay in replying to the hon. Member. His letter was transferred to the Department of Trade and Industry as that Department is responsible for advertising and advertising campaigns. Unfortunately there was a breakdown in communications during this process and action has now been taken to ensure this does not happen again. In 2001, the Department answered 90 per cent. of Members' correspondence within 18 working days and I am satisfied that this was an isolated incident.