To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the (a) average and (b) longest time taken by her Department to reply to hon. Members’ correspondence was in each of the last three years. (145064)

The Cabinet Office, on an annual basis, publishes a report to Parliament on the performance of Departments in replying to Members’ and Peers’ correspondence. The report for 2006 was published on 28 March 2007, Official Report, columns 101-04WS. Reports for earlier years are available in the Library of the House.

Information on the average time taken to reply to hon. Members’ correspondence is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. The longest time taken by the Department to reply to hon. Members’ correspondence in each of the last three years is 188 days in 2004; 173 days in 2005; and 295 days in 2006.