The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office (Mr David Lidington)
I am today publishing a report on the performance of Departments and Agencies on handling correspondence from Members and Peers during the calendar year 2017. Details are set out in the table below. Correspondence statistics for 2016 can be found on 11 July 2017, Volume 627 (HCWS35). Department or Agency Target set for reply (working days) Number of letters received % of replies within target Attorney General’s office 20 202 98% Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy 15 4032 65% Insolvency Service 15 33 100% Land Registry 15 87 93% Companies House 10 44 98% Cabinet Office 15 682 93% Charity Commission 15 181 71% Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government 15 8060 46% Planning Inspectorate 10 127 25% Crown Prosecution Service 20 270 70% Department for Digital Culture, Media and Sport 20 4112 89% National Archives 20 21 100% Ministry of Defence 20 2588 96% Department for Education 15 7671 57% Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 15 5563 71% Animal and Plant Health Agency 15 38 98% Rural Payments Agency 15 157 70% Department for Exiting the European Union 20 2884 73% Food Standards Agency (*) (*) FSA Ministers replies 20 35 91% (*) FSA Chair/CE replies 20 43 58% Foreign and Commonwealth Office 20 6420 87% Government Legal Department 10 10 100% Department of Health and Social Care 18 12627 91% Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency 20 35 97% Public Health England 18 80 98% Home Office 15 5977 54% UK Visas and Immigration/Immigration Enforcement/Border Force 20 39369 83% Her Majesty’s Passport Office 20 2235 91% Department for International Development 15 1423 93% Department for International Trade 15 913 77% Ministry of Justice 15 2539 88% HM Courts Service and Tribunals Service (*) (*) Where Ministers replied 15 656 94% (*) Where CEO replied 15 348 96% Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (*) (*) Where Ministers replied 15 888 81% (*) Where CEO replied 10 297 92% Office of the Public Guardian (*) (*) Where Ministers replied 15 45 93% (*) Where CEO replied 10 44 93% Northern Ireland Office 15 527 83% Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills 15 229 80% Office of Gas and Electricity Markets 15 209 97% Office of the Leader of the House of Commons 15 192 94% Office of the Leader of the House of Lords 15 15 100% Office of Rail and Road 20 45 76% OFWAT (Water Services Regulation Authority) 15 29 72% Scotland Office 15 70 73% Serious Fraud Office 20 45 93% Department for Transport 20 6294 80% Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency 7 1877 99% Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency 10 190 100% Maritime and Coastguard Agency 10 15 100% HM Treasury 15 6489 77% HM Revenue and Customs (*) (*) Where Ministers replied 15 1068 60% (*) Where CEO replied 15 5775 84% Valuation Office Agency (2) 15 686 49% Wales Office 15 87 86% Department for Work and Pensions 20 11168 88% Health and Safety Executive 15 87 100% Human Resources 15 50 100% Director General 15 2140 83% (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. (2) The Valuation Office Agency is an executive agency, sponsored by HM Revenue & Customs.
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.
[HCWS798]