Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the validity of Midlands and Lancashire Commissioning Support Unit's policy of allowing themselves up to 40 working days to respond to constituent casework regardless of whether an investigation is needed.

It is important that clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) should respond to constituent casework in a timely manner.

NHS England has advised that the Chief Officer for Lancashire CCG, Mike McQuire, has written to the hon. Member about the role of NHS Midlands and Lancashire Commissioning Support Unit in working with NHS West Lancashire CCG to produce responses to correspondence from hon. Members.

We understand he has set out the process for dealing with letters and the responsibilities of the respective organisations involved in providing accurate responses to hon. Members or constituents, and has requested a further meeting with the hon. Member to discuss the matter further.