HC Deb 26 March 2002 vol 382 cc836-7W
Mr. George Howarth

To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what targets his Department and the agencies it sponsors have for responding to correspondence(a) from hon. Members and (b) from members of the public; and what his Department's performance against such targets has been for each of the last 36 months in both categories. [31006]

Ms Rosie Winterton

Ministers at the Lord Chancellor's Department aim to respond to correspondence from hon. Members within 20 working days. Chief Executives of the Public Record Office and the Land Registry also aim to reply to hon. Members within 20 working days, whilst the Chief Executives of the Public Guardianship Office and the Court Service aim to do so within 15 working days. Statistics for correspondence with hon. Members for the Department and each agency for each of the last 36 months is not readily available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost, but statistics for each of the last three years are as follows:

Percentage of correspondence from MPs answered within target
Per cent
1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 1 April 2001 to 31 December 2001
LCD Headquarters 88 76 73 75
Land Registry1 100 91 93 79
Public Trust Office2 99 83 78 —
Public Guardianship Office2 — — — 52
Public Record Office 100 100 96 100
Court Service HQ 99 93 94 94
1 Figures for the land registry are for the calendar years 1998, 1999 and 2000.
Percentage of correspondence from members of the public answered within target
Per cent
Target 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001 to 31 December 2001
Public Record Office 10 99 99 100 99
Public Trust Office 1— 96 92 89 —
Public Guardianship Office 2— — — — (c) 91.9
(d) 94.8
1 The standard for dealing with correspondence in the Public Trust Office was to respond to all letters within 10 working days, or to acknowledge letters within three working days and respond fully within 20 working days.
2 The standard for dealing with correspondence in the Public Guardianship Office is to: (a) respond to 85 per cent. of letters, faxes and e-mails within 15 working days of receipt; and (b) to respond to 95 per cent. of letters, faxes and e-mails within 20 working days of receipt.