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Guidance for Departments on the Handling
of Minsterial and Other Correspondence
1. The handling of correspondence from Members of Parliament, Peers, and the honourable
general public is an issue to which the Government attaches the greatest importance. The
right of MPs to take up constituents’ cases and other issues with Ministers is an
important part of the democratic process, and the Government recognises that honourable
Members expect an effective response to their letters within a reasonable time. Similarly,
members of the general public are entitled to expect a prompt reply to their enquiries.
2. The way in which correspondence is handled plays an important part in the way in
which a Department's efficiency is judged, and the Government is determined to ensure that
the handling of all honourable Members’ correspondence is given the highest priority.
All Departments and Agencies now set and publish their own standard for responding to
correspondence. There have, however, been a number of concerns raised over the past year
by MPs and others about the quality of Departments’ handling of correspondence, and,
in particular, about their handling of Ministerial correspondence. It is for this reason
that In response to these concerns, we have produced this Guidance to remind Departments
of the key principles to be followed when handling correspondence and to promote best
practice across all Departments and Agencies. (Separate guidance on the handling of
letters from Members of the European Parliament is set out in EQO (GUIDANCE) (98) 2.)
The Guidance is arranged as follows:
General
3. It is important that Departments and Agencies have formal systems in place to
record incoming correspondence and to track progress, and that senior managers ensure that
such procedures are followed and periodically reviewed. Clear, written procedures provide
staff with a source of advice and guidance, and ensure that, when staff changes take
place, new members of staff do not repeat the previous mistakes.
4. Ministers are, however, ultimately responsible for the way in which their
Departments' and Agencies' correspondence is handled and for setting targets for replying
to correspondence. For the purpose of this guidance, correspondence is taken to mean
letters, faxes and e-mails.
5. For each item of correspondence received, Departments and Agencies should strive to
issue a substantive reply within the target time set by Ministers. When this is not
possible, an interim or holding reply must be sent both as a matter of courtesy and
to reassure the correspondent that their letter has been received and that action is being
taken. Interim replies should not be confused with acknowledgements, which simply
acknowledge receipt of a piece of correspondence.
6. Interim or holding replies must:
 | be sent as soon as it becomes apparent that a reply will not be issued within the target
time; |
| tell the correspondent what is being done to answer their letter i.e. what action is
being taken, explaining the reason for the delay and telling the correspondent when they
can expect to receive a substantive reply. Interim replies sent to members of the public
should (unless there are serious security concerns) give the name and telephone number of
the official dealing with their letter. (For correspondence to be
transferred to another Department, see paragraphs 17-18); and |
| be used sparingly. |
7. For monitoring purposes, interim replies meeting the above criteria can be treated
as having met the correspondence target. Monitoring should, however, continue for the new
deadline, treating it, in effect, as if it were a new item of correspondence (although it
will not, of course, be recorded as such). Departments should also monitor their use of
interim replies (see paragraph 13).
8. Departments and Agencies should ensure that:
| all replies are of a high quality - accurate, clear and helpful. Departments should bear
in mind the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information when responding; |
| any complaints have been thoroughly investigated in accordance with the Department's or
Agency's complaints procedure; |
| replies to letters from honourable Members of Parliament and Peers to Ministers should
be signed off by a Minister, not by a private secretary or other official, unless it is an
operational matter falling within an Agency’s delegated responsibility or unless
there are exceptional reasons why this is not possible (for example, if the Minister is
overseas). By convention, Cabinet Ministers respond to Privy Councillors unless a Privy
Councillor has addressed their letter to another Minister, in which case they will receive
a response from the Minister responsible for the subject matter; and |
| where the incoming item of correspondence has a reference number, this must always
be quoted in the reply. |
Target times
9. All Departments and Agencies should set and publish their target timess for
replying to correspondence. Targets will reflect the particular circumstances of
individual Departments and Agencies.
10. Targets should:
| present a challenge to Departments and Agencies, but be realistic and achievable; |
| be agreed at Ministerial level within each Department. Performance against targets
should be monitored and regularly reviewed; |
| where possible, be the same for all correspondence received in a particular
Department; although, with the Minister’s agreement, different targets may apply.
However, where target times differ, this should always be made clear; and |
| be published, along with information on the Department’s or Agency's performance. |
11. In particular, Departments and Agencies should note that target times should run
from the date the correspondence is first received by the Department or Agency to the date
when a substantive reply - or interim reply - is sent out (and not, for example, to
the date when a draft reply is submitted to Ministers).
Monitoring performance
12. Monitoring of performance is essential. Officials need to know if they are
achieving their targets, and senior officials need to take a positive interest in progress
so that remedial action can be taken, if necessary. The following should be regarded as
best practice:
| a Minister in each Department should take formal responsibility for overseeing progress; |
| monthly statistics on Departments’ and Agencies' performance against targets should
be produced and circulated to Ministers and officials at all levels; and |
| information on overall aperformance should be included in Annual Reports and in
the annual arranged PQs prepared by the Cabinet Office (see paragraph 14) |
13. When monitoring performance against target, Departments and
Agencies should also identify the proportion of correspondence replied to within target
which received an interim or holding reply before a substantive reply was finally sent.
(This step need not be followed by those Departments and Agencies that do not count
interim replies as meeting their correspondence target.)
14. For some years, the Cabinet Office has published statistics on
the volume of correspondence received by Ministers and Agency Chief Executives from MPs,
the targets set for reply and performance against target. This information will continue
to be collated by the Cabinet Office on an annual basis, together with information on the
number of interim replies issued. The Cabinet Office will also continue to publish annual
statistics on Departments' and Agencies' handling of correspondence from the general
public. This guidance should ensure that, in future, information is provided on a more
consistent basis.
Tracking of correspondence
15. Departments and Agencies should ensure that they have effective systems in
place for the to track ing ofcorrespondence received from MPs. These systems should be
consistent and should record, at the very least, the date when the correspondence was
received, together with the date of when a reply was sent out. They should normally
identify the official or section handling a particular piece of correspondence. Such
systems should also identify requests for information under the Code of Practice on Access
to Government Information, as well as complaints, so that lessons can be drawn.
Departments should also have effective reminder systems for all overdue correspondence.
The number of reminders should be closely monitored and management action taken where
necessary.
16. Departments and Agencies should ensure that all sections should have simple systems
to record and track correspondence received direct from members of the public. This
information should be regularly monitored (statistically reliable sampling methods may be
used, if appropriate) and reviewed against the Department’s or Agency's
correspondence target. Aggregated results should be available for the Department or Agency
as a whole, and the information published.
Departments should also have an effective reminder system for all overdue Ministerial
cases. The number of reminders should be closely monitored and management action taken, if
necessary.
17. There will be times where a letter will need to be
transferred from one Department to another. In these circumstances the following should
apply:
| misdirected letters should be quickly identified and to minimise further delays, only
transferred after the recipient Department or Agency has agreed to take it on. It is good
practice to set and monitor an internal target for transferring correspondence between
departments (e.g 3 working days); |
| the correspondent should be informed immediately about the transfer of their letter,
with details about the Department to which the letter has been transferred, together with
the name, address and telephone number of an appropriate contact (e.g. in the Ministerial
Correspondence Unit of that Department). |
18. For monitoring purposes, the transferring Department should not include such
correspondence in any returns to the Cabinet Office. The receiving Department should
record and monitor such correspondence as if it had been received direct.
Transferring correspondence within a Department
19. Departments should have effective procedures in place to ensure the quick and
efficient transfer of correspondence within the Department, including to its Agencies.
Often this will involve the use of named contact points. Speed is vital and fax machines
(and increasingly e-mail) can play an important part. Departments should consider setting
an internal target for the redirection of correspondence. Where a significant delay has
occurred, for example following a substantial influx of letters, consideration should be
given to issuing a substantive interim reply.
20. The target time for replying to correspondence transferred within a Department (but
not to its Agencies) should run from the date it was first received within the Department
to the point at which a reply was issued (see paragraphs 5 - 7
for guidance on interim replies). The target time for Agencies should run from the
time of receipt by the Agency. In order to ensure the prompt transfer of correspondence,
Agencies should consider agreeing a Service Level Agreement with their parent Department,
covering the handling of transferred correspondence.
21. Private Offices should issue guidance to officials at regular intervals about the
style of Ministerial replies. Departments and Agencies should consider the training needs
of staff who deal with correspondence. Appropriate arrangements should be put in place to
ensure that the quality of all replies is high.
Cabinet Office
October 1998
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