HM Revenue and Customs: Correspondence

Mr. Laurence Robertson
To ask Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent estimate he has made of the time taken by the HM Revenue and Customs office in Cardiff to reply to letters from members of the public; and if he will make a statement.

John Healey
There are a number of HMRC offices in Cardiff. In the main HMRC office, which deals with PAYE and self assessment customers, the vast majority of correspondence is dealt with within 20 days. The office does take longer to deal with some more complex or specialist correspondence but as of 18 May 2007 4 per cent. of correspondence only was more then 20 days old.