§ Mr. HeathTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what targets are set for replying to correspondence from members of the public to the Immigration and Nationality Directorate; and what the level of performance is. [36769]
§ Angela EagleOne million pieces of correspondence were received by the Immigration and Nationality Directorate (IND) post room in Croydon, during the last 1243W 12 months. The targets in the Public Service Agreement 2000–01 to 2003–04 commits all Home Office Directorates, including IND, to replying to 95 per cent. of public correspondence within 20 working days. Figures are not currently available for IND's present performance against the standards relating to public correspondence, but we aim to send a substantive reply to all letters as soon as possible.
Improving performance against published targets for dealing with correspondence is recognised as a priority for IND as part of the wider Home Office programme to modernise business processes and information management.