§ Mrs. GillanTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he will reply to the letter of the hon. Member for Chesham and Amersham of 10 July 2003. [144158]
§ Caroline Flint[holding answer 16 December 2003]: The Home Office can find no trace of the original correspondence. After being provided with a copy, I replied to the hon. Member on 18 December 2003.
1272W
§ Miss McIntoshTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what his normal practice is for the length of time taken to reply to correspondence. [145620]
§ Caroline FlintThe Home Office's published targets for responding to correspondence are as follows:
Length of time taken to reply to
correspondence
Correspondence from Member of parliament relating to matters other than immigration, nationality and HM Prison Service 115 Correspondence from Members of Parliament relating to immigration, nationality and HM Prison Service 120 Correspondence, including emails, from members of the public 120 1Working days A great deal of effort has been put into improving performance over the past six months following the introduction of the new Correspondence Tracking System.
The latest available figures show that 60 per cent. of letters from hon. Members are now replied to within the target. This is an increase on the figure of 36 per cent. achieved in May 2003. Although this indicates a considerable improvement, the department is committed to improving this further.