Cabinet Office: The Propriety and Ethics Team

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Ministers' Correspondence with Members of Parliament

Ministers attach great importance to the prompt and efficient handling of correspondence. The Propriety and Ethics Team oversees the policy and performance of Government's correspondence with Members of Parliament.

The general ‘rules’ which govern the handling of MPs' correspondence are set out in ‘Handling Correspondence from Members of Parliament, Members of the House of Lords, MEPs and Members of Devolved Assemblies: Guidance for Departments

Departments must ensure that:

• all replies to letters are of the highest quality - accurate, clear and helpful; and
• every effort is made to reply promptly and in line with departments' own published standards for answering correspondence.

An annual report to Parliament [PDF 109KB, 4 pages] monitors the performance of departments and agencies. Copies of the last annual report and current guidance in PDF, RTF and Word versions can be found at our publications page.

Any questions on the guidance should be directed to nick.brown@cabinet-office.x.gsi.gov.uk