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<p>I take very seriously my responsibility as Leader of the House to encourage Ministers
to be punctual in answering written questions. I recently published data on departmental
performance in answering Questions for Written Answer for the 2015/16 session, where
I was pleased to see that 93% of questions were answered within 10 working days. Nevertheless,
we must always strive to do better. I have written to the three departments with the
greatest proportion of late responses in the last session to make clear the House’s
expectations and to stress the importance of timely responses.</p><p> </p><p>Though
the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (formerly the Department
for Business, Innovation and Skills) received 475 Questions for Written Answer in
2015/16 - more than double the number received in the previous session - Ministers
were nevertheless disappointed by the department’s performance. In response the department
has put in place a range of actions to improve performance, including strengthening
internal deadlines and procedures. Baroness Neville-Rolfe, as the Lords Minister,
has stressed to me how seriously the department takes its responsibilities to Parliament
and is confident that performance will improve in this session.</p><p><br>My office
continues to work with all departments to ensure prompt and comprehensive responses
to all Questions for Written Answer. I will continue to publish data on an annual
basis to allow analysis of performance over time. This practice is important in highlighting
where improvements in timeliness could and should be made.</p>
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