Written question asked by Lord Greaves (Liberal Democrat), in the House of Lords. It was answered by Baroness Andrews (Labour) on Tuesday, 17 March 2009.

Petitions

Question: To ask Her Majesty's Government what procedure is followed by the Department for Communities and Local Government in response to petitions that mention a civil servant of the department; and whether a document setting out the procedure is available.

Answer: Our central correspondence IT system and website are not currently set up to record separately the number, text and responses to petitions. We will consider doing so as part of the design of a proposed replacement correspondence system. With regard to responding to the originator of petitions, it is the department's practice to respond to all letters unless a reply is specifically not requested. We would expect the reply to inform the petition organiser what steps the department has taken or proposes to take in response to the petition and its reasons for doing so. We do not record instances where letters are not sent. We do not record centrally petitions which mention civil servants and have no plans to do so. Petitions mentioning civil servants will be dealt with like any other, with the exception that the department has a complaints procedure, concerning the department administrative practices or service delivery, to which members of the public are referred if they make a complaint or allegation. I have placed a copy of the procedure and guidance in the Library of the House.

Secondary information

Type: Written question
Reference: 2035; 709 c28-9WA
Session: 2008-09
Related items: Deposited Paper DEP2009-0868
Tuesday, 17 March 2009
Deposited papers
House of Lords
Subjects: Civil servants Department for Communities and Local Government Petitions
Link: View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk