The Minister for the Cabinet Office and Paymaster General (Mr Francis Maude)
I am today publishing a report on Departments’ and agencies’ performance on handling Members’ and peers’ correspondence during the calendar year 2012. Details are set out in the table below. Correspondence statistics for 2011 can be found on 15 March 2012, Official Report, column 30WS.
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 Executives1 | 2012 | ||
|---|---|---|---|
Department or Agency | Target set for reply (working days) | Number of letter received | % of replies within target |
Attorney-General’s Office | 20 | 525 | 97 |
Department for Business, Innovation and Skills | 15 | 10,274 | 84 |
- Companies House | 10 | 111 | 99 |
- Insolvency Service | 15 | 73 | 99 |
- Land Registry | 15 | 65 | 80 |
- Met Office | 10 | 19 | 74 |
- Ordnance Survey | 10 | 15 | 87 |
- Skills Funding Agency | 10 | 131 | 95 |
Cabinet Office | 15 | 3,681 | 77 |
Charity Commission | 15 | 309 | 96 |
Department for Communities and Local Government | 10 | 8,819 | 67 |
- Planning Inspectorate | 102 | 260 | 97 |
Crown Prosecution Service | 20 | 427 | 98 |
Department for Culture, Media and Sport3 | 20 | 5,100 | 88 |
Ministry of Defence | 204 | 5,160 | 88 |
Department for Education | 15 | 16,413 | 55 |
Department of Energy and Climate Change | 15 | 6,837 | 68 |
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs | 15 | 10,968 | 75 |
- Animal Health and Veterinary Laboratories Agency | 15 | 191 | 90 |
- Rural Payments Agency | 15 | 240 | 92 |
Food Standards Agency | |||
DH Ministers replies | 20 | 212 | 85 |
FSA Chair/CE replies | 20 | 98 | 87 |
Foreign and Commonwealth Office | 20 | 9,635 | 91 |
Department of Health | 18 | 17,279 | 98 |
- Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency | 20 | 241 | 95 |
Home Office3 | 15 | 10,318 | 75 |
- Criminal Records Bureau | 15 | 320 | 98 |
- Identity and Passport Service | 155 | 1,222 | 87 |
- UK Border Agency | 20 | 53,395 | 81 |
Department for International Development | 15 | 3,527 | 96 |
Ministry of Justice | 15 | 4,887 | 70 |
- HM Courts Service and Tribunals Service | 15 | 1,245 | 65 |
- National Archive | 10* | 8 | 75 |
15** | 12 | 83 | |
- National Offender Management Service | 15* | 896 | 68 |
- Office of the Public Guardian | 15 | 163 | 94 |
20** | 265 | 92 | |
- Official Solicitor and Public Trustee | 15 | 27 | 89 |
*Where Ministers replied | |||
**Where CEO replied | |||
Northern Ireland Office | 15 | 534 | 71 |
Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Schools | 15 | 247 | 91 |
Office of Fair Trading | 15 | 610 | 66 |
Office of Gas and Electricity Markets | 15 | 289 | 83 |
Office of the Leader of the House of Commons | 15 | 165 | 97 |
Office of the Leader of the House of Lords | 15 | 124 | 98 |
Office of Rail Regulation | 20 | 38 | 59 |
OFWAT (Water Services Regulation Authority) | 10 | 108 | 39 |
Scotland Office | 15 | 208 | 91 |
Serious Fraud Office | 20 | 25 | 80 |
Department for Transport | 15(01/01/2012-31/08/2012) | 7,148 | 73 |
20(01/09/2012 -31/12/2012) | 3,442 | 97 | |
- Driver Vehicle Licensing Agency | 7 | 1,804 | 99 |
- Driving Standards Agency | 10 | 126 | 99 |
- Highways Agency | 15 | 392 | 92 |
- Vehicle and Operator Services Agency | 10 | 90 | 91 |
HM Treasury | 15 | 16,539 | 53 |
- H M Revenue and Customs | 15 | 2,693 | 57 |
- HMRC CEO* | 15 | 8,939 | 60 |
*Cases where the HMRC’s Chief Executive has replied directly, rather than Ministers | |||
Treasury Solicitor’s Department | 10 | 16 | 100 |
Wales Office | 15 | 132 | 81 |
Department for Work and Pensions | 20 | 20,613 | 94 |
- Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission6* | 15 | 1,956 | 100 |
- Health and Safety Executive* | 15 | 142 | 97 |
- DWP Operations7* | 15 | 3,775 | 97 |
*Letters sent direct to Chief Executive/Officials | |||
1Departments 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. 2Target from 19/03/2012, previously seven days. 3Government Equalities Office was part of Home Office from January-August and then part of DCMS from September-December. During the year the GEO’s performance was 74%. 4Target from March 2012, previously 15 days. 5Target previously 10 working days up to April 2012. 6The Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission was abolished on 30 July 2012. From 1 August 2012, operational correspondence from MPs and Peers relating to child maintenance became the responsibility of the Child Support Agency within DWP. 7With effect from 1 October 2011, correspondence activity relating to Jobcentre Plus and the Pensions, Disability and Carers Service was merged under the organisation of the Chief Operating Officer within DWP. |