Quite unsolicited, I received in my emails recently the results for a 2014 survey dealing with how MPs respond to enquiries sent to them. The survey data is published by Writetothem.com and the link is provided below:

https://www.writetothem.com/stats/2014/mps

The results are put into a league table form - the lower down the table your MP comes then the worse the MP's results for responding to enquiries.  The survey is based on proper replies and not mere acknowledgments. The website has results for six separate years. It is not a perfect survey, it is not indicative as to how well MPs deal with other aspects of their job, but it is a guide that may be used by journalists and others, with the necessary caveats.

My interest, naturally, was how Neath's former MP performed.

In 2014 Peter Hain is ranked at 415 out of 653 MPs for responsiveness.
The responsiveness is rated as medium.
    
In 2013 Peter Hain is ranked at 562 out of 653 MPs
Rated: low

In 2008 Peter Hain is ranked at 587 out of 650 MPs
Rated: low
    
In 2007 Peter Hain is ranked at 635 out of 648 MPs
Rated: very low

In 2006 Peter Hain is ranked at 547 out of 650 MPs
Rated: low

In 2005 Peter Hain is ranked at 623 out of 784 MPs
Rated: low

That's a pretty grim record, isn't it? Especially when the staffing costs we paid towards running Peter Hain's office were consistently among the very highest of the 40 MPs in Wales, so being short on staff can't be an excuse. For instance his staffing costs for 2012/2013 are listed on IPSA's website as being £142,460 and were by some margin the highest staffing costs of the 40 Welsh MPs. (The average that year in Wales was £113,537). For the following year 2013/2014 his staffing costs are even higher, £150,612.

So what did Hain and his staff do all day then if he keeps scoring this abysmally? I have to say I have personal experience of the lack of responsiveness on the one and only occasion I contacted the MP. I never even had an acknowledgement. It might be the cynic in me again but I can't help feeling that if you enquire anything of our (now ex) MP or our Labour controlled Council that might show them in a less than favourable light, then your enquiries will disappear into a black hole, and it will be as if they never existed.

Anyone in Neath who has a signed letter from "Peter Hain" - I would strongly suggest you check if it is on genuine Houses of Parliament paper because it may well be a forgery. IF IT PROVES TO BE GENUINE, congratulations. You have something that might be as rare as hens' teeth or a winning rollover lottery ticket. Hang on to it because it is sure to be a collector's item in years to come.

Slowly but surely those Emperor's clothes are unravelling before our very eyes. One day, who knows, even the blind might see.

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