Mixed results for local MPs in "Responsiveness League Table"
A survey carried out by an independent charity puts the Ealing, Acton and Shepherd’s Bush MP in the bottom third of a league table which aims to show how responsive our elected representatives are.
In the list of 637 MPs nationwide, Andy Slaughter came in at number 543 and was deemed to have a “low” response rate to enquiries from constituents in 2007. This was down from a “medium” rating in 2006.
The “Responsiveness League Table” was put together by the independent charity, WriteToThem.com, which said 57,459 people had answered their survey about communicating with their MP. The survey asked whether people had had a reply (not just an acknowledgement) from their representative after a two-week wait. If there was no answer, they were surveyed again after 3 weeks.
“I don't trust this site,” Slaughter said. “Looking down the list I can see that many of the busiest and most conscientious MPs 'score' badly.”
“Most of the people who use this service (writing to MPs) are writing general letters on national issues," he added. "They get a holding reply, telling them I will reply to everyone at the end of the campaign. This is so I can brief myself fully before giving a concluded view. It also allows me to prioritise constituents with casework problems and to best use my limited resources. You will notice that I am in the top 20 for volume of correspondence,” he said.
In neighbouring constituencies, Greg Hands, the MP for Hammersmith & Fulham (Conservative) came 222nd and had a “high” response rate, Malcolm Rifkind (Conservative) of Kensington & Chelsea came 330th and was also deemed to have a “high” response rate while Ann Keen (Labour), MP for Brentford & Isleworth came 543rd and was graded “low”, and the MP for Ealing Southall, Virendra Sharma (Labour), came 629th and was said to have a “very low” response rate.
“While some MPs are very slow at responding to constituents’ mail, that doesn't mean they aren't otherwise active in or around Parliament on behalf of their constituents,” WriteToThem.com says on its website.
This presumably applies to the former MP for Sedgefield, a certain Tony Blair, who came at the very bottom of the list and had a “very low” response rate.
WriteToThem.com is part of the charity mySociety.org, whose group of websites aims to make it easier for people to track how their elected representatives are performing.
Yasmine Estaphanos
23 June 2008