Departmental Written Questions

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many days it took on average to answer written parliamentary questions tabled by each hon. Member for answer by him in the last six months. (201757)

The information is not available in the format requested and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

However, the following tables shows the number of ordinary written questions answered within five working and named day questions answered on the named day since October 2007.

*Ordinary written questions*
Month	Received	Answered within five working days	Percentage
October 2007	371	180	49
November 2007	373	139	37
December 2007	419	79	19
January 2008	353	141	40
February 2008	264	132	50
March 2008	374	162	43

*Named day questions*
Month	Received	Answered on or before the named day	Percentage
October 2007	77	23	30
November 2007	54	24	44
December 2007	53	17	32
January 2008	74	31	42
February 2008	48	26	54
March 2008	75	39	52

*Total*
Month	Received	Answered within five working days or on or before the named day	Percentage
October 2007	448	203	45
November 2007	427	163	38
December 2007	472	96	20
January 2008	427	172	40
February 2008	312	158	51
March 2008	449	201	44

Volume 475: debated on Wednesday 7 May 2008