Members' and Peers' Correspondence - 28th March 2011

The Minister for the Cabinet Office and Paymaster General (Mr Francis Maude)

Correspondence from MP / Peers to Ministers and Agency Chief Executives in 2010 Correspondence from MP / Peers to Ministers and Agency Chief Executives 1 2010 Department or Agency Target set for reply (working days) Number of letters received % of replies within target Attorney-General’s Office 20 150 73 Department for Business, Innovation and Skills 15 13243 71 Companies House 10 109 100 Insolvency Service 10 42 64 Cabinet Office 15 3048 58 2 Charity Commission 10 143 70 Department for Communities and Local Government 15 9117 77 Planning Inspectorate 7 3 236 85 Crown Prosecution Service 20 460 98 Department for Culture, Media and Sport 20 4006 96 5 Royal Parks 4 10 20 95 Ministry of Defence 15 6072 77 Met Office 10 15 87 Service Personnel and Veterans Agency 15 125 96 Department for Education 15 18512 42 6 Department of Energy and Climate Change 15 6343 69 Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 15 10944 83 Animal Health 15 121 95 Rural Payments Agency 15 552 63 Food Standards Agency DH Ministers replies 20 1081 83 FSA Chair/CE replies 20 121 83 Meat Hygiene Service 7 15 18 100 Foreign and Commonwealth Office 20 9845 90 Government Equalities Office 20 666 80 Department of Health 20 17733 97 Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency 20 318 98 * 20 38 92 ** *Agency Ministerial cases **Letters sent directly to agency chief executive or where agency chief executives responded on behalf of Ministers Home Office 15 13532 56 8 Criminal Records Bureau 10 1072 70 9 Identity and Passport Service 10 1014 87 UK Border Agency 20 57651 88 Department for International Development 15 3163 95 Ministry of Justice 15 4084 78 HM Courts Service 15 939 80 HM Land Registry 15 109 78 National Archives 15 36 92 National Offender Management Service 15 1190 70 * 20 348 89 ** Office of the Public Guardian 15 191 89 Official Solicitor and Public Trustee 15 43 79 Tribunals Service 15 264 86 *Where Ministers replied ** Where CEO replied Northern Ireland Office 15 649 78 Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Schools 15 149 88 Office of Fair Trading 15 471 66 Office of Gas and Electricity Markets 15 160 77 Office of the Leader of the House of Commons 15 218 83 Office of the Leader of the House of Lords 15 35 89 Office of Rail Regulation 20 70 84 OFWAT (Water Services Regulation Authority) 10 92 70 Postal Services Commission 5 11 73 Scotland Office 15 88 68 Serious Fraud Office 20 43 83 Department for Transport 15 8359 74 Driver Vehicle Licensing Agency 7 1622 99 Driving Standards Agency 10 158 100 Highways Agency 15 371 93 Maritime and Coastguard Agency 10 21 95 Vehicle and Operator Services Agency 10 86 97 HM Treasury 15 10811 51 10 H M Revenue and Customs 15 4028 75 HMRC CEO * 15 729 50 *Cases where the HMRC’s chief executive has replied directly, rather than Ministers Treasury Solicitor’s Department 10 23 96 Wales Office 15 131 82 Department for Work and Pensions 20 19020 85 Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission 15 3967 99 Debt Management 15 28 86 Health and Safety Executive 15 93 92 Jobcentre Plus 15 3195 94 Pension, Disability and Carers Service 15 2047 100 1 Departments and Agencies which received 10 MPs/Peers letters or fewer are not shown in this table. Holding or interim replies are not included unless otherwise indicated. The report does not include correspondence considered as freedom of information requests. Includes correspondence received from prospective parliamentary candidates. 2 Performance has been affected by a 111% rise in correspondence following the formation of the new Government and machinery of government changes. Measures have been put in place to improve performance in 2011. 3 With effect from 1 July, response target revised to seven working days. 4 Response target reduced to 10 working days with effect from 1 September. 5 From 28 June 2010 performance was monitored on 2537 letters received to departmental targets of two working days (46% achieved) and 10 working days (82%) achieved). 6 DFE received an increase of 20% in correspondence received compared to the previous year (35% increase for May to December compared to the same period in the previous year) contributing to a downturn in performance. The Department is investing in new processes and resources to ensure improvement in 2011. Includes correspondence sent to the former DCSF. 7 The Meat Hygiene Service was dissolved on 31 March. 8 The drop in HO performance is attributed to a number of new policies being developed as well as policy areas being reviewed which resulted in a temporary delay in replies being sent. 9 CRB experienced a 56% increase in correspondence during the fourth quarter of 2010. 10 Includes correspondence received by OGC, NS&I and the Valuation Office. Performance increased in the first six months of the year to average 64%. The Election, Emergency Budget, Autumn Statement and the Spending Review public consultation exercise increased correspondence levels, resulting in a temporary drop in performance. Correspondence levels are expected to remain high but with a departmental focus on improving performance taking place.

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