LENGTH OF TIME TAKEN TO ANSWER HON MEMBERS' LETTERS

Early day motion 428, tabled 18 December 2002 by Paul Burstow (Liberal Democrat). Signed by 36 members.

That this House notes that more than 4,000 letters are outstanding to honourable Members from seven Government departments; further notes that 800 of these are six months old or longer, of which 474 are from the Department of Health; further notes that the Department for Education and Skills does not monitor these figures; regrets that the DfID and the Home Office have failed to provide this information despite being asked on 7th November; further notes that letters to ministers are one of the few remaining ways that honourable Members are able to hold Her Majesty's Government to account, scrutinise its policies and programmes and pursue constituency cases; believes that ministers are either deliberately withholding information until it is no longer relevant or are incompetent; and calls upon the Public Administration Committee to investigate the reasons for the backlog of unanswered ministerial letters to ensure that this House and its honourable Members are not bypassed or prevented from undertaking scrutiny of the Executive.

Signatures by party: Liberal Democrat 21, Labour 5, Conservative 4, Labour/Co-operative 2, Plaid Cymru 2, UUP 2.