§ Mr. BradyTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many days on average his Department took in Session 2002–03 to give a substantive answer to a parliamentary question for ordinary written answer; and what the greatest number of days taken to answer such a question was. [155925]
§ Mr. StrawMy Department took an average of four days to answer parliamentary questions for ordinary written answer in Session 2002–03, within the five working day Parliamentary guidelines.
The greatest number of days taken to provide an ordinary written answer in Session 2002–03 is 102 working days, which includes the summer recess.