Question to the Cabinet Office:

Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Statement by Lord Young of Cookham on 11 July (HLWS37), what steps they have taken to seek explanations from Ministers and Agency Chief Executives in (1) the Department for Communities and Local Government, (2) the Department for Education, (3) the Home Office, (4) HM Revenue and Customs, and (5) Ofwat, in the light of the Minister's response that they have failed to answer one third of the correspondence within the target set for replies.

Government takes seriously its responsibilities for providing timely replies to correspondence from MPs and Peers. The Departments in question are committed to improving their performance on replying to correspondence from MPs and Peers and have plans in place to do so.