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78247

	registered interest
	date	15/07/2014
	answering body	Leader of the House of Lords
	answering dept id	92
	answering dept short name
	answering dept sort name	Leader of the House of Lords
	hansard heading	Written Questions
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask the Leader of the House whether she will discourage ministers and spokespersons from answering Questions for Written Answer by referring to websites, in order to accommodate those without internet access.
	tabling member printed	Lord Stoddart of Swindon
	uin	HL1142
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/07/2014 answer text <p>On 13 May the House agreed a new set of rules to govern the content of written answers, in response to the introduction of a new electronic system for submitting them. While the digital copy of answers will be the definitive record copy, all written answers will continue to be published, and a signed copy will continue to be sent to the Peer asking the question.</p><p>These rules make clear that all answers should be complete and comprehensible, and not rely on references to external documents or webpages. They also make clear that supporting documents should be included as attachments, not hyperlinks, and referred to in the answer itself. Any attachments that are included will be available in the Library to be printed out on demand.</p><p>All of these rules will help to accommodate those without internet access. I will remind all Lords Ministers to adhere to them.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Baroness Stowell of Beeston question first answered 29/07/2014 16:24:58 answering member 4205 label Biography information for Baroness Stowell of Beeston
	tabling member	950 label Biography information for Lord Stoddart of Swindon

78966

	registered interest
	date	18/07/2014
	answering body	Leader of the House of Lords
	answering dept id	92
	answering dept short name
	answering dept sort name	Leader of the House of Lords
	hansard heading	Written Questions
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask the Leader of the House, further to the Written Answer by Earl Howe on 17 July (WA 144–5), whether she will discourage ministers and spokespersons from answering Written Questions by reference to websites.
	tabling member printed	Lord Mawhinney
	uin	HL1283
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/08/2014 answer text <p>I refer the noble Lord to the reply I gave to Lord Stoddart of Swindon on 29 July (WA 304).</p><p> </p> answering member printed Baroness Stowell of Beeston question first answered 04/08/2014 11:24:36 answering member 4205 label Biography information for Baroness Stowell of Beeston
	tabling member	121 label Biography information for Lord Mawhinney

156522

	registered interest
	date	19/11/2014
	answering body	Leader of the House of Lords
	answering dept id	92
	answering dept short name
	answering dept sort name	Leader of the House of Lords
	hansard heading	Written Questions
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask the Leader of the House what steps she takes to ensure the quality of answers to parliamentary questions; and what assessment she has made of the length of time taken to provide them.
	tabling member printed	Lord Laird
	uin	HL2945
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/12/2014 answer text <p>It is the responsibility of individual ministers to decide what answers they give to Questions for Written Answer (QWAs), and they are of course accountable to the House for those answers. That direct accountability is important: that is why Ministers in this House must provide personally signed answers to members. The Ministerial Code states that <em>“It is of paramount importance that Ministers give accurate and truthful information to Parliament”.<br><br></em>As Leader of the House I have a particular responsibility to encourage Ministers and their departments to be punctual in answering written questions. My office immediately approach departments who have not responded to questions after 10 working days, and remain in contact with them until the questions are answered. At the end of this Session I will publish data on the annual performance of departments on their promptness in dealing with QWAs.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Baroness Stowell of Beeston question first answered 03/12/2014 12:49:49 answering member 4205 label Biography information for Baroness Stowell of Beeston
	tabling member	2479 label Biography information for Lord Laird

227995

	registered interest
	date	17/03/2015
	answering body	Leader of the House of Lords
	answering dept id	92
	answering dept short name
	answering dept sort name	Leader of the House of Lords
	hansard heading	Written Questions
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether their policy is that all Parliamentary Written Questions should be answered in full in all parts.
	tabling member printed	Lord Laird
	uin	HL5810
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/03/2015 answer text <p>As Leader of the House, I have a particular responsibility to encourage departments to be punctual in answering written questions, but the content of each answer is a matter for the minister concerned. All Ministers are accountable to the House for those answers. That direct accountability is important: that is why Ministers in this House must provide personally signed answers to members.</p><p> </p><p>To inform Ministers in answering questions put to them, the Ministerial Code says that “It is of paramount importance that Ministers give accurate and truthful information to Parliament”. It also makes clear that “Ministers should be as open as possible with Parliament and the public, refusing to provide information only when disclosure would not be in the public interest”. In addition, the longstanding rules of this House on Questions for Written Answer (rules that the House reaffirmed in agreeing to the Procedure Committee’s 5<sup>th</sup> Report of the 2014-15 Session) set out that all answers should be complete and comprehensible.</p><p> </p><p>If any member has particular concerns about a response that they have received that they consider does not adhere to these rules, I would encourage them to raise it with me directly.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Baroness Stowell of Beeston grouped question UIN HL5717 question first answered 24/03/2015 13:45:04 answering member 4205 label Biography information for Baroness Stowell of Beeston
	tabling member	2479 label Biography information for Lord Laird

227330

	registered interest
	date	13/03/2015
	answering body	Leader of the House of Lords
	answering dept id	92
	answering dept short name
	answering dept sort name	Leader of the House of Lords
	hansard heading	Written Questions
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask the Leader of the House what guidance she issues to Departments in respect of their providing full answers to questions for written answer, particularly when failure to answer has been followed up.
	tabling member printed	Baroness Gardner of Parkes
	uin	HL5717
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/03/2015 answer text <p>As Leader of the House, I have a particular responsibility to encourage departments to be punctual in answering written questions, but the content of each answer is a matter for the minister concerned. All Ministers are accountable to the House for those answers. That direct accountability is important: that is why Ministers in this House must provide personally signed answers to members.</p><p> </p><p>To inform Ministers in answering questions put to them, the Ministerial Code says that “It is of paramount importance that Ministers give accurate and truthful information to Parliament”. It also makes clear that “Ministers should be as open as possible with Parliament and the public, refusing to provide information only when disclosure would not be in the public interest”. In addition, the longstanding rules of this House on Questions for Written Answer (rules that the House reaffirmed in agreeing to the Procedure Committee’s 5<sup>th</sup> Report of the 2014-15 Session) set out that all answers should be complete and comprehensible.</p><p> </p><p>If any member has particular concerns about a response that they have received that they consider does not adhere to these rules, I would encourage them to raise it with me directly.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Baroness Stowell of Beeston grouped question UIN HL5810 question first answered 24/03/2015 13:45:04 answering member 4205 label Biography information for Baroness Stowell of Beeston
	tabling member	3596 label Biography information for Baroness Gardner of Parkes

510254

	registered interest
	date	11/04/2016
	answering body	Leader of the House of Lords
	answering dept id	92
	answering dept short name
	answering dept sort name	Leader of the House of Lords
	hansard heading	Written Questions
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask the Leader of the House whether she will encourage Government ministers to provide full answers to Written Questions from members of the House rather than providing references to third-party sources.
	tabling member printed	Lord Pearson of Rannoch
	uin	HL7460
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 25/04/2016 answer text <p>As Leader of the House, I am responsible for encouraging departments to give timely answers to Questions for Written Answer (QWAs), a duty I take very seriously.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>The House has set out clearly (most recently in agreeing the Procedure Committee’s 5th Report on the 2014-5 Session) that all answers to QWAs should be complete and comprehensible, and as such should not rely on references to external documents or webpages. I will continue to make this guidance clear to Ministers. Whilst it is for individual Ministers to account to the House for the content of the answers they provide - with Ministers providing personally signed answers to members as part of this direct accountability - any member is welcome to inform me of any particular concerns about a response they have received.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Baroness Stowell of Beeston question first answered 25/04/2016 15:54:28 answering member 4205 label Biography information for Baroness Stowell of Beeston
	tabling member	3153 label Biography information for Lord Pearson of Rannoch

518730

	registered interest
	date	18/05/2016
	answering body	Leader of the House of Lords
	answering dept id	92
	answering dept short name
	answering dept sort name	Leader of the House of Lords
	hansard heading	Written Questions
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask the Leader of the House how many Questions for Written Answer were put to each Government department and answered within the target 10 working days in each month in the 2015–16 Session, together with the relevant percentages in each case.
	tabling member printed	Lord Jopling
	uin	HL24
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 31/05/2016 answer text <p>In line with the practice established in the last session, following the commitment made by my predecessor (HL Deb 8 May 2014, col 1575), I will continue to publish annually the performance of departments on their promptness in dealing with Questions for Written Answer. My office will also continue to work with all departments to ensure prompt and comprehensive responses to all Questions for Written Answer.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>The statistics for the 2014-15 session are available as a Written Statement (HLWS39). I will shortly publish data on departmental performance for the 2015-16 session.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Baroness Stowell of Beeston question first answered 31/05/2016 13:19:28 answering member 4205 label Biography information for Baroness Stowell of Beeston
	tabling member	883 label Biography information for Lord Jopling

657749

	registered interest
	date	13/12/2016
	answering body	Leader of the House of Lords
	answering dept id	92
	answering dept short name
	answering dept sort name	Leader of the House of Lords
	hansard heading	Written Questions
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask the Leader of the House what arrangements are in place to ensure that, in answering Questions for Written Answer, government departments are, as required by the Ministerial Code, "accurate and truthful" and as "open as possible" in the answers they provide to members of the House of Lords; whether she has put in place a system to provide quality assurance of the answers provided by government departments to members of the House of Lords; and if so, what..
	tabling member printed	Lord Harris of Haringey
	uin	HL4068
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/12/2016 answer text <p>As Leader of the House I take very seriously the responsibility incumbent on all Ministers to provide full, timely and comprehensible answers to Questions for Written Answer. This is something I stress regularly to frontbench colleagues and which I will certainly reiterate in the light of the Noble Lord’s question. My office also engage regularly with private offices and Parliamentary teams when issues arise, both proactively and in response to concerns raised by individual members. It is for Ministers, though, to be directly accountable for the content of their answers, which is why I fully support the rule that Ministers must personally sign all answers to members of the House of Lords.</p> answering member printed Baroness Evans of Bowes Park question first answered 20/12/2016 17:18:58 answering member 4329 label Biography information for Baroness Evans of Bowes Park
	tabling member	2671 label Biography information for Lord Harris of Haringey

671118

	registered interest
	date	10/01/2017
	answering body	Leader of the House of Lords
	answering dept id	92
	answering dept short name
	answering dept sort name	Leader of the House of Lords
	hansard heading	Written Questions
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask the Leader of the House whether the failure on 10 January of the Home Office and the Ministry of Justice to answer Questions for Written Answer which had been tabled in November 2016 was in part due to those departments not being fully staffed to normal levels in the days following the bank holiday on 2 January.
	tabling member printed	Lord Jopling
	uin	HL4521
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/01/2017 answer text <p>As Leader of the House I take very seriously the responsibility incumbent on all Ministers to provide full, timely and comprehensible answers to Questions for Written Answer (QWAs). My office immediately approaches departments who have not responded to questions after 10 working days, and remains in contact with them until the questions are answered.</p><p>I am informed that due to ongoing technical problems with software used by the Home Office for processing answers to QWAs, the usual clearance process has experienced delays since October which have caused a backlog. I have been assured that steps have now been taken to safeguard against the problem reoccurring.</p><p>The Ministry of Justice recognise recent reductions in performance with regard to QWA responses, which I am informed is due to a reduction in resources​ ​as ​a result of process and system changes. The Department has assured me that they have taken steps to rectify this, including making further process improvements.</p><p>I have written to the Secretaries of State for both Departments to stress the importance of providing full and timely responses to QWAs and have written to my front bench team to reiterate the House’s expectations in the light of recent performance.</p> answering member printed Baroness Evans of Bowes Park question first answered 23/01/2017 15:09:22 answering member 4329 label Biography information for Baroness Evans of Bowes Park
	tabling member	883 label Biography information for Lord Jopling

1228057

	registered interest
	date	27/07/2020
	answering body	Leader of the House of Lords
	answering dept id	92
	answering dept short name
	answering dept sort name	Leader of the House of Lords
	hansard heading	Written Questions
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the number of questions for written answer tabled by members of the House of Lords that have not been answered within the required timeframe; and why those questions have not yet received an answer.
	tabling member printed	Lord Roberts of Llandudno
	uin	HL7393
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 30/07/2020 answer text <p>As of 30th July, there have been 7,372 QWAs tabled this session in comparison, a total of 6,266 QWAs were tabled in the whole of 2019. All departments have been working extremely hard in difficult and unprecedented circumstances. My office is in regular contact with departments about late responses. Additionally, I remind my ministerial colleagues of the need to provide timely answers to written questions and have received assurances that any backlogs are being worked through.<strong> </strong></p> answering member printed Baroness Evans of Bowes Park question first answered 30/07/2020 12:37:26 answering member 4329 label Biography information for Baroness Evans of Bowes Park
	tabling member	3691 label Biography information for Lord Roberts of Llandudno