Question to the Northern Ireland Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what the average length of time was for Ministers of his Department to respond to correspondence from hon. Members in each month in the last two years.

As encouraged by Cabinet Office guidance to set challenging deadlines, the Northern Ireland Office has a target of responding within 15 working days where a response is required.

As you will understand, the Northern Ireland Office is currently dealing with unprecedented volumes of correspondence due to Covid-19. The Northern Ireland Office ensures that urgent cases raised by hon. Members are prioritised, and is taking steps to provide substantive responses in as short a time as possible.

All correspondence received from hon. Members is being reviewed and will be responded to as soon as possible.