asked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they will instruct the Ethnic Minorities Citizenship Unit at the British Consulate-General in Hong Kong to acknowledge within two working days, and respond substantively within a time determined by published service targets to telephone calls, letters, e-mails and faxes; and whether they will publish reports on compliance with those service targets at monthly intervals.[HL7643]
The Ethnic Minorities Citizenship Unit (EMCU) at our Consulate-General in Hong Kong deals instantly with the vast majority of telephone inquiries it receives during working hours. Inquirers who leave a voice message or those who submit an inquiry by e-mail, letter or fax receive a reply within standard public service targets of 20 working days. However, in most cases the EMCU gives a substantive response within two working days.
The table below shows the number and type of inquiries answered by the unit since its inception in February 2006.
Month Number of queries (By Telephone) Number of queries (By e-mail) Number of queries (By fax and post) February 503 32 11 March 1076 27 17 April 507 5 4 May 768 12 4 June 964 20 12 July 609 19 25 August 1999 28 75 September 1293 24 52