Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, on how many occasions hon. Members have waited longer than 20 working days for a response to their enquiry from her Department in the last (a) three and (b) six months.

Over the last three months the Department has replied to 10,079 letters from hon. Members. Of these, 3,471 (34%) have been replied to in over 20 days.

Over the last six months the Department has replied to 21,204 letters from hon. Members. Of these 7,179 (34%) have been replied to in over 20 days.

Performance has been impacted by a very significant increase in the volume of correspondence received, alongside the need for Ministers and officials to instigate a remote process for drafting and signing correspondence during the period of COVID-19 restrictions. An action plan is currently in place to clear backlogs and drive up performance.