Asked by: David Winnick (Labour - Walsall North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 12 January 2017 to Question 59041, on members: correspondence, whether the information contained in that Answer relates to substantive replies being sent to hon. Members.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
The performance data provided in the response to question 59041 to the hon. Member is in relation to substantive replies to Members correspondence.
Asked by: David Winnick (Labour - Walsall North)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, when he plans to respond to the letter from the hon. Member for Walsall North of 13 December 2016 on the funding for supported housing consultation.
Answered by Lord Barwell
I replied to the Rt Hon Member's letter on 16 January.
Asked by: David Winnick (Labour - Walsall North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, when the hon. Member for Walsall North will receive a reply to his letter of 28 November 2016 to the Chief Executive of the Valuation Office Agency, ref 11780517.1/CEO; and what the reasons are for the delay in responding to that letter.
Answered by Jane Ellison
The Valuation Office Agency (VOA) aims to respond to correspondence from Members within 15 working days of receipt, however certain cases may take longer. The VOA apologises for the delay in responding to the correspondence while they investigated the issues raised in the letter. The Chief Executive has sent a reply.
Asked by: David Winnick (Labour - Walsall North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when the hon. Member for Walsall North will receive a reply to his letter to the Benefit Director on 6 December 2016 on employment and support allowance; and what the reasons are for the delay in responding to that letter.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
The Department for Work and Pensions offers its apology for the delay in responding. We have been investigating the issues raised in your letter to the Benefit Director on 6 December.
Whilst the Department aims to provide a full response to MP enquires on behalf of their constituents within 15 working days, there will be occasions where, for a variety of reasons this is not possible. In this case additional information received from the customer generated further enquiries. Regrettably, the MP's office was not kept informed of progress when it became clear in this particular case there would be a delay. A full response has now been issued to the hon. Member.
Asked by: David Winnick (Labour - Walsall North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether in his meetings with the Benefits Director he has discussed the process of replies being sent to hon. Members.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
The Secretary of State holds regular meetings with the Director General, Operations to discuss operational matters and performance. The process of replies being sent to hon. Members has not featured in discussions to date, primarily because the Department’s performance in respect of the timeliness of responses is broadly on track. For the calendar year 2016, 89% of responses to hon. Members were issued within 15 days, against a target of 90% in 15 days. The 90% target reflects the fact that some matters raised by hon. Members can be particularly complex and, in such cases, it is not always possible to respond within 15 days.
Asked by: David Winnick (Labour - Walsall North)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when she expects a decision will be made by the Planning Inspectorate on the public inquiry into the former Willenhall gas works land; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
I am unable to comment on ongoing legal matters.
Asked by: David Winnick (Labour - Walsall North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many named day written questions have not been answered with a substantive reply (a) on the day in question and (b) up to 4 days later than that day in the last six months.
Answered by Sarah Newton
The House of Commons Procedure Committee publishes official statistics regarding departmental PQ performance for each Parliamentary session.
The most recent reports can be found here:
http://www.parliament.uk/documents/commons-committees/procedure/Procedure-Committee-HC191-data-departmental-performance.pdf
Asked by: David Winnick (Labour - Walsall North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will place in the Library the correspondence she had with Judge Goddard asking for her to appear before the Home Office committee after her resignation as chair of the independent inquiry into child sexual abuse.
Answered by Sarah Newton
On 6 October 2016, Mark Sedwill, Permanent Secretary at the Home Office, wrote to Dame Lowell Goddard, former chair of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, to pass on a request from the Home Affairs Select Committee that she appear before the Committee. The Committee has published the text of this letter on its website.
Asked by: David Winnick (Labour - Walsall North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 21 October 2016 to Question 49304, on correspondence with Judge Goddard, when she plans to provide a substantive reply to that Question.
Answered by Sarah Newton
I refer the honourable gentleman to the answer that was given to question 49304 on 2 November 2016.
Asked by: David Winnick (Labour - Walsall North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average time taken is by the Benefit Director in his Department to reply to hon. Members' correspondence.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
The average time taken by Benefit Directors to respond to hon. Members’ correspondence so far this calendar year is 12 working days.