Show Search Form

Search Results

registered interest	true false
date	exactly: or between: and
answering body
answering dept id
answering dept short name
answering dept sort name
hansard heading
house id
legislature	pref label
question text
tabling member constituency
tabling member printed
uin
answer	is ministerial correction true false date of answer exactly: or between: and answer text answering member constituency answering member printed grouped question UIN question first answered answering member label
tabling member	label

Search

1688855

registered interest
date	13/02/2024
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	Government Departments: Written Questions
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask the Leader of the House, with regard to the 19 questions for written answer that remained unanswered after 10 working days on 12 February, how many of the answering bodies have not sent an apology to the questioner for the delay in responding.
tabling member printed	Lord Jopling
uin	HL2441
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/02/2024 answer text <p>As Leader of the House, I take my duty to represent the House to His Majesty’s Government with the utmost seriousness. Central to this is ensuring that Peers have their questions answered in a timely fashion by all departments. Over the recent months, I have reminded all Front Bench Ministers of their duty to respond to Written Questions within the 10 day target.</p><p>In addition to this, my Office routinely contacts departments who have breached this target to ascertain the reasons why their deadlines have been missed. As an indication of how seriously I have taken this issue, I have also written to the Permanent Secretaries of departments and met individually with Front Bench Ministers who repeatedly miss the target.</p><p>I believe an apology is appropriate in such circumstances, but that it is a matter for each individual department to determine.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Lord True question first answered 27/02/2024 12:30:16 answering member 4200 label Biography information for Lord True
tabling member	883 label Biography information for Lord Jopling

1686849

registered interest
date	01/02/2024
answering body	Leader of the House
answering dept id	34
answering dept short name	Leader of the House
answering dept sort name	Leader of the House
hansard heading	Government Departments: Written Questions
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Leader of the House, what proportion of named day questions were answered on or before the relevant named day by (a) all Government Departments and (b) the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs in (i) the 2022-23 Parliamentary Session and (ii) the current Parliamentary session.
tabling member constituency	Walthamstow
tabling member printed	Stella Creasy
uin	12618
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/02/2024 answer text <p>Data on response times to all written parliamentary questions is held by the House, rather than the Government. The ​Procedure ​Committee reports on departmental performance following the end of each Parliamentary Session, the most recent of which can be found on parliament.uk (<a href="https://committees.parliament.uk/work/1245/written-parliamentary-questions/publications" target="_blank">https://committees.parliament.uk/work/1245/written-parliamentary-questions/publications</a>), and the Government looks forward to receiving the Committee’s report on data from the 2022-23 Session. The Hon. Member may wish to approach the House regarding data for the current Parliamentary session.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Portsmouth North answering member printed Penny Mordaunt question first answered 06/02/2024 11:05:24 answering member 4017 label Biography information for Penny Mordaunt
tabling member	4088 label Biography information for Stella Creasy

1666580

registered interest
date	23/10/2023
answering body	Cabinet Office
answering dept id	53
answering dept short name	Cabinet Office
answering dept sort name	Cabinet Office
hansard heading	Government Departments: Written Questions
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many times Government departments answered Named Day written parliamentary questions stating that it would not be possible to answer a question within the usual time period in each of the last five years.
tabling member constituency	Easington
tabling member printed	Grahame Morris
uin	203809
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/10/2023 answer text <p>Written parliamentary questions allow MPs and Peers to ask Ministers for information on the work, policy and activities of Government departments. Parliament has a right to hold Ministers to account and it is a recognised right of Parliament that Members receive full and timely responses. Where it is not possible to provide a Named Day answer in full on the specified date, a holding response should be provided to the MP to explain this.</p><p> </p><p>It is the responsibility of individual departments to provide timely answers to Parliamentary Questions from Members. The requested information is not centrally held by the Cabinet Office, and complying with this request would incur a disproportionate cost to the Department.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Brentwood and Ongar answering member printed Alex Burghart question first answered 26/10/2023 09:46:32 answering member 4613 label Biography information for Alex Burghart
tabling member	3973 label Biography information for Grahame Morris

1611658

registered interest
date	18/04/2023
answering body	Cabinet Office
answering dept id	53
answering dept short name	Cabinet Office
answering dept sort name	Cabinet Office
hansard heading	Government Departments: Written Questions
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 17 April 2023 to Question 175612 on Written Questions: Government Responses, if he will make an estimate of the total cost to the public purse of answering the 61,427 written parliamentary questions submitted in 2022.
tabling member constituency	Hornsey and Wood Green
tabling member printed	Catherine West
uin	181202
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/04/2023 answer text <p>As set out in my response to PQ175612, the cost of each PQ depends on a number of factors which will vary from department to department.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>It would therefore exceed the disproportionate cost threshold to estimate this figure.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Brentwood and Ongar answering member printed Alex Burghart question first answered 24/04/2023 16:57:35 answering member 4613 label Biography information for Alex Burghart
tabling member	4523 label Biography information for Catherine West

1608305

registered interest
date	28/03/2023
answering body	Cabinet Office
answering dept id	53
answering dept short name	Cabinet Office
answering dept sort name	Cabinet Office
hansard heading	Government Departments: Written Questions
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the average cost to the public purse was of answering Written Parliamentary Questions as of March 2023.
tabling member constituency	Hornsey and Wood Green
tabling member printed	Catherine West
uin	175612
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/04/2023 answer text <p>The cost to the public purse of answering written PQs depends on numerous factors, including the size of parliamentary teams, volumes of parliamentary questions submitted, and the complexity of the question asked (and required policy work to answer it), amongst other factors. Across both Houses, there were <a href="https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions?SearchTerm=&amp;DateFrom=01%2F01%2F2022&amp;DateTo=31%2F12%2F2022&amp;AnsweredFrom=&amp;AnsweredTo=&amp;House=Bicameral&amp;Answered=Any&amp;Expanded=True" target="_blank">61,427</a> WPQs submitted in 2022, normally each requiring several hours of officials’ time, so the cost is likely to be substantial.</p> answering member constituency Brentwood and Ongar answering member printed Alex Burghart question first answered 17/04/2023 17:13:13 answering member 4613 label Biography information for Alex Burghart
tabling member	4523 label Biography information for Catherine West

1586523

registered interest
date	17/02/2023
answering body	Leader of the House
answering dept id	34
answering dept short name	Leader of the House
answering dept sort name	Leader of the House
hansard heading	Government Departments: Written Questions
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Leader of the House, what steps she is taking to help ensure Departments provide substantive and timely answers to written parliamentary questions.
tabling member constituency	Batley and Spen
tabling member printed	Kim Leadbeater
uin	147290
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/02/2023 answer text <p>Parliament has a right to hold Ministers to account and, as Leader of the House, I expect Government Ministers to respond quickly and effectively to written parliamentary questions. I will continue to drive that message and I encourage members who get an unsatisfactory response to write to me and I will take this up for any Member who does not get a proper response.</p><p>The ​Procedure ​Committee has a strong track record of calling Ministers in to look at​ departmental​ performance where there are issues​ and their regular reporting of performance continues to be an effective tool​. ​I note the Procedure Committee's report from earlier in this session on written parliamentary questions during the 2021-22 session​ and ​I was pleased to read that the number of answers provided on time has improved from the 2019-21 session. ​I hope we will see this improvement continue in the current session. ​However, there remains room for improvement and I hope departments and Ministers will consider how best to ensure resources are adequately deployed to improve performance.</p><p>I recognise that my office and I have a role to play in making representations to Government on behalf of the House of Commons, and have taken a number actions in recent months:</p><ul><li>Over the 2022 Summer recess my office conducted a series of discussions across Whitehall regarding the importance of timely and quality responses to Members.</li><li>In line with the practice of my predecessors, I have written to all members of Cabinet.</li><li>I participated in a ‘Leading in Parliament’ session with Senior Civil Servants.</li><li>I met with the Home Office Permanent Secretary following a number of concerns raised during Business Questions, and I have been pleased to note an improvement in performance in that department’s performance statistics. Changes include regular briefings on PQ performance to Director Generals; a further training offer to civil servants to improve performance and quality of responses; and investment in software to help manage PQ allocation and clearance processes.</li><li>In November 2022 my office published an updated Guide to Parliamentary Work which is available on Gov.uk and includes guidance for civil servants on answering written parliamentary questions, reflecting concerns raised by the Procedure Committee (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guide-to-parliamentary-work).</li><li>My office oversees the Parliamentary Clerks’ Working Group, which brings together all departmental Parliamentary Clerks from across Whitehall to discuss topical issues and share best practice. During its last meeting in December 2022, my office expressed my concerns and reiterated the need for improvements in the timeliness of responses to parliamentary questions to be maintained.</li><li>The Parliamentary Capability Team in the Cabinet Office also provides training on managing parliamentary work to civil servants of all departments and grades, including blended learning courses on Written Parliamentary Questions and tailored workshops for Senior Civil Servants. Since April 2022, 896 civil servants from across government have attended training provided by the Parliamentary Capability Team on managing Written Parliamentary Questions.</li><li>I will be meeting with all departmental Permanent Secretaries in the coming weeks where I will reiterate the importance of substantive and timely answers to written parliamentary questions.</li></ul> answering member constituency Portsmouth North answering member printed Penny Mordaunt question first answered 27/02/2023 13:54:12 answering member 4017 label Biography information for Penny Mordaunt
tabling member	4923 label Biography information for Kim Leadbeater

1460482

registered interest
date	26/04/2022
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	Government Departments: Written Questions
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask the Leader of the House when she last drew the attention of Ministers and Permanent Secretaries to the fact that several Departments have not answered Questions for Written Answer within ten working days; in particular (1) the Department of Health and Social Care, (2) the Home Office, and (3) the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities.
tabling member printed	Lord Jopling
uin	HL7966
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/04/2022 answer text <p>As Leader of the House, I take my responsibility to ensure all Ministers provide full, timely and accurate responses to Questions for Written Answers (QWAs) very seriously.</p><p>I regularly remind Front Bench colleagues of their obligation to the House as stipulated in the Companion and of the importance of answering QWAs within the 10 day target. This has been raised regularly at Front Bench meetings and I have previously written to colleagues on the issue.</p><p>My office works closely with all departments across Government to ensure prompt responses to all QWAs. This is a process that has been followed with the Department of Health and Social Care, the Home Office, and the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities.</p> answering member printed Baroness Evans of Bowes Park question first answered 27/04/2022 16:44:13 answering member 4329 label Biography information for Baroness Evans of Bowes Park
tabling member	883 label Biography information for Lord Jopling

1311978

registered interest
date	26/04/2021
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	Government Departments: Written Questions
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask the Leader of the House what steps she is taking to (1) encourage, and (2) require, ministers to answer written parliamentary questions as tabled.
tabling member printed	Lord Pearson of Rannoch
uin	HL15259
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/04/2021 answer text <p>As Leader of the House I take very seriously the responsibility incumbent on all Ministers to provide full, timely and comprehensive answers to Questions for Written Answers. Ministers are reminded regularly of the importance of their obligations to the House, and my office works closely with all departmental Parliamentary teams to help provide advice on what is expected of them in providing such answers.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Baroness Evans of Bowes Park question first answered 29/04/2021 12:15:44 answering member 4329 label Biography information for Baroness Evans of Bowes Park
tabling member	3153 label Biography information for Lord Pearson of Rannoch

1307433

registered interest
date	12/04/2021
answering body	Cabinet Office
answering dept id	53
answering dept short name	Cabinet Office
answering dept sort name	Cabinet Office
hansard heading	Government Departments: Written Questions
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government which departments use external contractors to prepare responses to questions tabled by members of the House of Lords and Members of Parliament; and, in each case, how often such contractors are used.
tabling member printed	Lord Bassam of Brighton
uin	HL14683
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/04/2021 answer text <p>Departments are responsible for their responses to written parliamentary questions. Written parliamentary questions receive final sign off from Ministers.</p><p>The Cabinet Office has produced guidance for civil servants on drafting answers to parliamentary questions. This can be found on the gov.uk website at: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/drafting-answers-to-parliamentary-questions-guidance" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/drafting-answers-to-parliamentary-questions-guidance</a>.</p><p>Civil servants and Ministers conduct these duties in line with their respective codes of conduct.</p><p>The Department of Health and Social Care has outlined that the department’s contract included a general clause for Deloitte to provide support to civil servants in responding to written questions, freedom of information requests and media queries. They have not been directly responsible for drafting replies.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Lord True grouped question UIN HL14684 HL14685 HL14686 question first answered 27/04/2021 10:40:20 answering member 4200 label Biography information for Lord True
tabling member	3504 label Biography information for Lord Bassam of Brighton

1307434

registered interest
date	12/04/2021
answering body	Cabinet Office
answering dept id	53
answering dept short name	Cabinet Office
answering dept sort name	Cabinet Office
hansard heading	Government Departments: Written Questions
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what percentage of written answers to questions tabled by members of both Houses of Parliament were drafted by external contractors in the current parliamentary session.
tabling member printed	Lord Bassam of Brighton
uin	HL14684
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/04/2021 answer text <p>Departments are responsible for their responses to written parliamentary questions. Written parliamentary questions receive final sign off from Ministers.</p><p>The Cabinet Office has produced guidance for civil servants on drafting answers to parliamentary questions. This can be found on the gov.uk website at: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/drafting-answers-to-parliamentary-questions-guidance" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/drafting-answers-to-parliamentary-questions-guidance</a>.</p><p>Civil servants and Ministers conduct these duties in line with their respective codes of conduct.</p><p>The Department of Health and Social Care has outlined that the department’s contract included a general clause for Deloitte to provide support to civil servants in responding to written questions, freedom of information requests and media queries. They have not been directly responsible for drafting replies.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Lord True grouped question UIN HL14683 HL14685 HL14686 question first answered 27/04/2021 10:40:20 answering member 4200 label Biography information for Lord True
tabling member	3504 label Biography information for Lord Bassam of Brighton