Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the standard of correspondence produced by the Correspondence and Enquiry Unit in his Department in response to enquiries raised during the covid-19 outbreak.

Since March, the Treasury has received over 18,000 items of correspondence from Honourable Members – the largest correspondence volume received of any Government department leading on coronavirus pandemic. Replying to this amount of correspondence while delivering targeted action to protect millions of jobs and livelihoods is a significant challenge for a department of around 1,500 staff. However, the Treasury ensures that every MP receives a timely, accurate and informative reply to their queries. On rare occasions, when MPs have said any replies from the Treasury have not fully covered the issue raised, the department has provided an additional reply covering any outstanding points as soon as possible.