To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what procedures govern responses by the Highways Agency to letters and emails from members of the public; what proportion of such letters and emails were responded to within the last 12 months; how long it took to make each such response; and if he will make a statement. (268397)

[holding answer 2 April 2009]: The Highways Agency has a target to respond to at least 90 per cent. of customer correspondence within 15 working days. During the past 12 months, the Highways Agency received 11,791 items of correspondence and responded to 11,352 (96.3 per cent.) within 15 working days.

Due to the large quantity of correspondence from members of the public, it is not possible to provide the details of how long it took to make each response in the timescales given.