HC Deb 25 February 2004 vol 418 cc473-4W
Mr. Brady

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development 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. [155917]

Hilary Benn

In Session 2002–03, DFID was asked a total of nearly 2,500 parliamentary questions, the information requested is not held centrally and we are unable to provide it without incurring disproportionate cost.

The effective handling of parliamentary questions is an issue to which my ministerial colleague and I attach great importance. We try to respond to parliamentary questions within the parliamentary deadlines whenever possible.