To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what Tax Credit Office targets there are for responding to letters from right hon. and hon. Members; and how many letters received responses outside the target period in each (a) month and (b) quarter since 1 November 2006. (175158)

HM Revenue and Customs has a target to respond to the majority of letters from right hon. and hon. Members within three weeks.

The number of letters that were not sent a reply within three weeks for the period requested is shown in the following table:

The TCO is working hard to improve the speed and quality of responses.

As the hon. Member is aware, the TCO is currently dealing with an administrative problem which has resulted in some delays.