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Written statement made by Lord Bassam of Brighton (Labour) on Thursday, 30 March 2006 in the House of Lords, on behalf of the Cabinet Office.

Parliament: Members'/Peers' Correspondence

My honourable friend the Parliamentary Secretary at the Cabinet Office (Mr Murphy) has today published a report on departments' and agencies' performance on handling Members' and Peers' correspondence for 2005. Details are set out in the attached table. Departmental figures are based on substantive replies unless otherwise indicated. The footnotes to the table provide general background information on how the figures have been compiled. Correspondence from MPs/Peers to Ministers and agency chief executives

Correspondence from MPs / Peers to Ministers and Agency Chief Executives1
2004 2005
Target set for reply (working days) Number of letters received Percentage of replies within target Target set for reply (working days) Number of letters received % of replies within target
Department or Agency
Cabinet Office 15 637 88 15 537 97
Department for Constitutional Affairs 20 3,416 64 20 3,179 92
Court Service 15 429 95 15 359 99
HM Land Registry 20 44 95 15 55 96
National Archives 15 149 100 10 30 100
Northern Ireland Court Service2 15 14 92 – – –
Official Solicitor and Public Trustee 15 17 100 15 26 100
Public Guardianship Office 15 134 93 15 112 99
Crown Prosecution Service 15 520 98 15 476 98
HM Customs and Excise3 18 1,321 51 – – –
Department for Culture, Media and Sport 18 4,817 78 20 5,085 63
Ministry of Defence4 15 5,989 62 15 5,378 79
Armed Forces Personnel Administration Agency 15 126 99 15 207 99
Defence Estates2 15 11 100 – – –
Veterans Agency 15 287 99 15 138 99
Warship Support Agency2 15 15 91 – – –
Department for Education and Skills 15 15,313 93 15 18,547 86
Department for Environment, Food and Rural    Affairs 15 14,305 81 15 12,051 75
Food Standards Agency 20 782* 59 20 738* 73
20 78** 95 20 91** 90
* Letters where Health Ministers have replied.
** Letters where Chief Executive/Chairman has    replied.
Foreign and Commonwealth Office5 20 26,942 83 20 9,588 80
UK Visas6 15 12,849 45 15 9,189* 45
20 1,720** 58
*Letters where UK Visa officials have replied.
**Letters where FCO Ministers have replied.
Department of Health 20 20,140 80 20 20,155 91
Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory    Agency 10 284 81 10 340 92
NHS Estates7 20 112 73 20 90 86
NHS Purchasing and Supplies Agency 20 57 60 20 32 86
Home Office (non IND correspondence) 15 9,445 76 15 8,899 79
Immigration and Nationality Directorate (IND)8 20 35,802 34 20 41,063 53
Criminal Records Bureau 10 272 95 10 471 94
HM Prison Service 20 1,154 73 20 868 80
UK Passport Service 10 486 74 10 524 60
Department for International Development 15 4,686 80 15 4,593 67
Inland Revenue3 18 2,993 85 – – –
18 1,601* 45 – – –
*Local tax office delegated figures (where local tax offices have replied direct to MPs)
Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Lord's Office 15 60 87 15 143 95
Legal Secretariat to the Law Officers 20 404 63 20 335 68
Northern Ireland Office 10 567 68 10 742 64
Compensation Agency 7 125 67 7 62 100
Northern Ireland Prison Service 10 48 85 10 39 92
Office of the Deputy Prime Minister 15 10,135 81 15 8,937 79
Planning Inspectorate 8 379 81 10 243 67
Office of the Leader of the House of Commons 15 504 95 15 302 97
Scotland Office 15 82 77 15 56 53
Department for Trade and Industry9 15 11,807 72 15 10,821 50
Companies House 10 56 98 10 38 100
Employment Tribunals Service 10 61 93 10 91 95
Insolvency Service 10 33 94 10 99 98
Patent Office 10 297 84 10 496 94
Department for Transport 15 8,593 86 15 7,849 80
Driving Standards Agency 15 198 79 15 89 87
DVLA 7 1,276 100 7 1,113 100
Government Car and Despatch Agency – – – 7 16 100
Highways Agency 15 285 95 15 287 99
Maritime and Coastguard Agency 10 20 100 10 18 100
Vehicle and Operator Services Agency 15 13 77 15 16 94
HM Treasury10 15 4,316 86 15 2,585 84
HM Revenue and Customs3 – – – 18 4,231 72
18 1,601* 45
National Savings and Investments 15 74 92 15 21 95
National Statistics 15 189 95 15 155 91
10 133 73 10 114** 84
Valuation Office 18 18 83 18 21 80
*Local Tax Office ‘Delegated' figures (where local tax offices have replied directly to MPs). The marked increase in correspondence in quarters 3 and 4 of 2004 continued throughout 2005 unabated. Clearances during the year were affected by moving some complaint drafters to help to clear Disputed Overpayments. Currently restructuring how we deal with complaints and performance should improve.
**Letters where National Statistician replied on Ministers' behalf
Treasury Solicitor's Department 10 49 98 10 28 100
Wales Office 15 109 92 15 83 80
Department for Work and Pensions 20 13,319 86 20 10,596 90
Appeals Service 15 50 98 15 60 95
Child Support Agency 15 5,390 88 15 5,367 99
Debt Management 15 25 100 15 35 100
Disability and Carers Service 15 451 100 15 425 100
Health and Safety Executive 10 127 70 15 77 77
Jobcentre Plus 15 1,136 90 15 1,062 90
The Pension Service 15 1,340 89 15 1,042 98
1   Departments and Agencies which received 10 MPs/Peers letters or fewer during 2005 are not shown in this table. Holding or interim replies are not included unless otherwise indicated. This report includes letters from prospective candidates prior to the general election. The report does not include correspondence considered as Freedom of Information requests. 2   Received fewer than 10 letters in 2005. 3   With effect from 1 April 2005, HM Customs and Excise and the Inland Revenue merged to form HM Revenue and Customs. 4   Includes a small number of letters from members of the public that received a ministerial reply. Figure also includes some FOI requests, though these represent less than 1 per cent of total reported. 5   Reduced volume of correspondence compared to previous years reflects the setting up of a central correspondence system and the introduction of a more accurate method of monitoring letters received. 6   Poor performance caused by backlog of cases and resource issues. Performance for December 2005 was 75 per cent, increased to 81 per cent in March 2006. 7   Abolished in September 2005. 8   IND saw an increase in volume of 15 per cent between 2004 and 2005 (6 per cent increase in ministerial, and 21 per cent in official replies). During 2005 all official replies were again signed off by IND senior executive group members which inevitably built delays into the system, but had the effect of significantly enhancing the quality of replies. 9   Performance slipped last year due to internal reorganisation following a reduction in staff numbers. Launch of new centralised response unit will raise level of performance. 10   Includes all ministerial correspondence.

Secondary information

Type
Written statement
Reference
680 c118-22WS 
Session
2005-06
Related items
Members' and Peers' Correspondence
Wednesday, 28 March 2007
Written statements
House of Lords
Subjects
Executive agencies Correspondence Government departments Members Peers Standards
Contains statistics
Yes
Link
View this Written statement on www.publications.parliament.uk