@prefix rdf: . @prefix xsd: . @prefix dcterms: . @prefix skos: . @prefix rdfs: . @prefix api: . @prefix parl: . rdfs:label "Biography information for Lucy Powell" . parl:answer ; parl:answeringDeptId "34" ; parl:answeringDeptPrinted "Leader of the House" ; parl:answeringDeptShortName "Leader of the House" ; parl:answeringDeptSortName "Leader of the House" ; parl:hansardHeading "Legislation" ; parl:houseId "1" ; parl:legislature ; parl:questionText "To ask the Leader of the House, what steps she is taking to deliver the government's legislative programme for the upcoming parliamentary year." ; parl:registeredInterest false ; parl:tablingMember ; parl:tablingMemberConstituency "Solihull" ; parl:tablingMemberPrinted "Julian Knight" ; parl:uin "196654" ; dcterms:date "2023-09-01"^^xsd:dateTime . parl:answerText "

Parliament has been informed on each occasion a bill has been withdrawn. Information on the bills withdrawn in each session is available on the Parliament website at: https://bills.parliament.uk/.

" ; parl:answeringMember ; parl:answeringMemberConstituency "Portsmouth North" ; parl:answeringMemberPrinted "Penny Mordaunt" ; parl:dateOfAnswer "2023-10-16"^^xsd:dateTime ; parl:isMinisterialCorrection false ; parl:questionFirstAnswered "2023-10-16T09:10:40.573Z"^^xsd:dateTime . parl:answerText "

The Parliamentary Capability Team provides training on managing parliamentary work to civil servants of all departments and grades. Their training is designed in partnership with the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel, the Leaders and Government Whips Offices in both Houses, and departmental parliamentary and legislative teams.

Since April 2022, the Parliamentary Capability Team has delivered a total of 15,933 training interventions (attendance at courses and events, and e-learning courses completed).

I recognise that my office and I have a role to play in promoting parliamentary capability and have taken a number of actions:

  • I have met with all departmental Permanent Secretaries.
  • I have participated in a ‘Leading in Parliament’ session with Senior Civil Servants.
  • In November 2022 my office published an updated Guide to Parliamentary Work which is available on Gov.uk (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guide-to-parliamentary-work).
  • 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.
" ; parl:answeringMember ; parl:answeringMemberConstituency "Portsmouth North" ; parl:answeringMemberPrinted "Penny Mordaunt" ; parl:dateOfAnswer "2023-09-11"^^xsd:dateTime ; parl:groupedQuestionUIN "196663" ; parl:isMinisterialCorrection false ; parl:questionFirstAnswered "2023-09-11T15:19:41.21Z"^^xsd:dateTime . parl:answer ; parl:answeringDeptId "34" ; parl:answeringDeptPrinted "Leader of the House" ; parl:answeringDeptShortName "Leader of the House" ; parl:answeringDeptSortName "Leader of the House" ; parl:hansardHeading "Legislative Drafting: Gender" ; parl:houseId "1" ; parl:legislature ; parl:questionText "To ask the Leader of the House, with reference to the Answer of 19 June 2023 to Question 187222, on Legislative Drafting: Gender, whether the revised guidance has been completed; and whether she continues to plan to place it in the Libraries of both Houses and publish it on the gov.uk website." ; parl:registeredInterest false ; parl:tablingMember ; parl:tablingMemberConstituency "Don Valley" ; parl:tablingMemberPrinted "Nick Fletcher" ; parl:uin "16442" ; dcterms:date "2024-02-29"^^xsd:dateTime . parl:answerText "

The Office of the Parliamentary Counsel has updated its drafting guidance in general and, following the written statement, has further information for drafters on gendered language. This will be published on GOV.UK in due course.

" ; parl:answeringMember ; parl:answeringMemberConstituency "Portsmouth North" ; parl:answeringMemberPrinted "Penny Mordaunt" ; parl:dateOfAnswer "2024-03-15"^^xsd:dateTime ; parl:isMinisterialCorrection false ; parl:questionFirstAnswered "2024-03-15T10:53:45.053Z"^^xsd:dateTime . parl:answer ; parl:answeringDeptId "34" ; parl:answeringDeptPrinted "Leader of the House" ; parl:answeringDeptShortName "Leader of the House" ; parl:answeringDeptSortName "Leader of the House" ; parl:hansardHeading "Taxation: Scotland" ; parl:houseId "1" ; parl:legislature ; parl:questionText "To ask the Leader of the House, with reference to (a) her oral contribution on 11 January 2024, Official Report, columns 455-456, (b) the findings on page 2 of the Scottish Government’s Income Tax Policy Proposal: Scottish Budget 2023-24, published in December 2022 and (c) research by the Institute for Fiscal Studies on Scottish council tax, published on 11 September 2023, on what evidential basis she stated that people in England pay lower tax than people in Scotland." ; parl:registeredInterest false ; parl:tablingMember ; parl:tablingMemberConstituency "North Ayrshire and Arran" ; parl:tablingMemberPrinted "Patricia Gibson" ; parl:uin "14896" ; dcterms:date "2024-02-20"^^xsd:dateTime . parl:answer ; parl:answeringDeptId "34" ; parl:answeringDeptPrinted "Leader of the House" ; parl:answeringDeptShortName "Leader of the House" ; parl:answeringDeptSortName "Leader of the House" ; parl:hansardHeading "Government Departments: Correspondence" ; parl:houseId "1" ; parl:legislature ; parl:questionText "To ask the Leader of the House, what steps she is taking to help ensure that Members' requests for assistance on ministerial correspondence are addressed in a timely manner." ; parl:registeredInterest false ; parl:tablingMember ; parl:tablingMemberConstituency "Solihull" ; parl:tablingMemberPrinted "Julian Knight" ; parl:uin "196659" ; dcterms:date "2023-09-01"^^xsd:dateTime . parl:answerText "

The Office of the Leader of the House of Commons has not incurred external recruitment consultancy costs in any of the last three financial years.

" ; parl:answeringMember ; parl:answeringMemberConstituency "Portsmouth North" ; parl:answeringMemberPrinted "Penny Mordaunt" ; parl:dateOfAnswer "2023-12-18"^^xsd:dateTime ; parl:isMinisterialCorrection false ; parl:questionFirstAnswered "2023-12-18T09:50:17.513Z"^^xsd:dateTime . parl:answerText "

Government is working hard to prepare the legislative programme for the next session of Parliament in the usual way. The programme will be announced in the King’s Speech at the State Opening of Parliament on 7th November.

Good progress is being made in delivering the Government’s legislative programme and manifesto commitments. So far this session, 30 Government Bills have reached Royal Assent. In addition, the Government has worked with members on all sides of the House to deliver 16 private members' bills. Details of all Acts of Parliament can be found on legislation.gov.uk.

Parliament has shown that it provides flexibility in debating legislation and adapts when necessary, for example the passage of the Coronavirus Act and the recent legislation relating to the Northern Ireland budget.

Public trust and confidence in our democracy and its institutions is vital and this is something which I am keen to promote as Leader of the House.

" ; parl:answeringMember ; parl:answeringMemberConstituency "Portsmouth North" ; parl:answeringMemberPrinted "Penny Mordaunt" ; parl:dateOfAnswer "2023-09-11"^^xsd:dateTime ; parl:groupedQuestionUIN "196660" , "196654" , "196661" ; parl:isMinisterialCorrection false ; parl:questionFirstAnswered "2023-09-11T15:33:12.627Z"^^xsd:dateTime . parl:answerText "

We do not routinely publish this data, as has been the case under successive administrations. All Business Units within the Cabinet Office have a responsibility to keep official hospitality costs as low as possible and demonstrate good value for money.

Details of ministerial and senior official hospitality are published on a quarterly basis, and are available on GOV.UK.

" ; parl:answeringMember ; parl:answeringMemberConstituency "Portsmouth North" ; parl:answeringMemberPrinted "Penny Mordaunt" ; parl:dateOfAnswer "2023-12-14"^^xsd:dateTime ; parl:isMinisterialCorrection false ; parl:questionFirstAnswered "2023-12-14T15:11:51.12Z"^^xsd:dateTime . parl:answer ; parl:answeringDeptId "34" ; parl:answeringDeptPrinted "Leader of the House" ; parl:answeringDeptShortName "Leader of the House" ; parl:answeringDeptSortName "Leader of the House" ; parl:hansardHeading "Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton" ; parl:houseId "1" ; parl:legislature ; parl:questionText "To ask the Leader of the House, if she will bring forward proposals to enable Members to directly scrutinise the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs." ; parl:registeredInterest false ; parl:tablingMember ; parl:tablingMemberConstituency "City of Durham" ; parl:tablingMemberPrinted "Mary Kelly Foy" ; parl:uin "7134" ; dcterms:date "2023-12-14"^^xsd:dateTime . rdfs:label "Biography information for Mary Kelly Foy" . skos:prefLabel "House of Commons" . rdfs:label "Biography information for Stella Creasy" . parl:answerText "

I have attended 14 meetings of the Privy Council within the last twelve months.

Published details of all Privy Council meetings and business transacted since 2010 can be found at: https://privycouncil.independent.gov.uk/meetings-and-orders/orders-in-council/

" ; parl:answeringMember ; parl:answeringMemberConstituency "Portsmouth North" ; parl:answeringMemberPrinted "Penny Mordaunt" ; parl:dateOfAnswer "2023-09-07"^^xsd:dateTime ; parl:isMinisterialCorrection false ; parl:questionFirstAnswered "2023-09-07T16:16:39.933Z"^^xsd:dateTime . parl:answer ; parl:answeringDeptId "34" ; parl:answeringDeptPrinted "Leader of the House" ; parl:answeringDeptShortName "Leader of the House" ; parl:answeringDeptSortName "Leader of the House" ; parl:hansardHeading "Statutory Instruments: Parliamentary Scrutiny" ; parl:houseId "1" ; parl:legislature ; parl:questionText "To ask the Leader of the House, whether she is taking steps to increase opportunities for the scrutiny of statutory instruments by backbenchers." ; parl:registeredInterest false ; parl:tablingMember ; parl:tablingMemberConstituency "Romford" ; parl:tablingMemberPrinted "Andrew Rosindell" ; parl:uin "195841" ; dcterms:date "2023-09-01"^^xsd:dateTime . parl:answer ; parl:answeringDeptId "34" ; parl:answeringDeptPrinted "Leader of the House" ; parl:answeringDeptShortName "Leader of the House" ; parl:answeringDeptSortName "Leader of the House" ; parl:hansardHeading "Leader of the House of Commons: Privy Council" ; parl:houseId "1" ; parl:legislature ; parl:questionText "To ask the Leader of the House, how many Privy Council meetings has she attended in the last 12 months." ; parl:registeredInterest false ; parl:tablingMember ; parl:tablingMemberConstituency "Solihull" ; parl:tablingMemberPrinted "Julian Knight" ; parl:uin "196658" ; dcterms:date "2023-09-01"^^xsd:dateTime . rdfs:label "Biography information for Nick Fletcher" . parl:answerText "

The Procedure Committee is conducting an inquiry into this issue and it would not be appropriate for me to pre-empt the conclusions of that inquiry. The Government will respond to the Committee’s recommendations in the usual way once they have published their report.

" ; parl:answeringMember ; parl:answeringMemberConstituency "Portsmouth North" ; parl:answeringMemberPrinted "Penny Mordaunt" ; parl:dateOfAnswer "2023-12-19"^^xsd:dateTime ; parl:isMinisterialCorrection false ; parl:questionFirstAnswered "2023-12-19T13:15:25.06Z"^^xsd:dateTime . rdfs:label "Biography information for Charlotte Nichols" . parl:answerText "

Government is working hard to prepare the legislative programme for the next session of Parliament in the usual way. The programme will be announced in the King’s Speech at the State Opening of Parliament on 7th November.

Good progress is being made in delivering the Government’s legislative programme and manifesto commitments. So far this session, 30 Government Bills have reached Royal Assent. In addition, the Government has worked with members on all sides of the House to deliver 16 private members' bills. Details of all Acts of Parliament can be found on legislation.gov.uk.

Parliament has shown that it provides flexibility in debating legislation and adapts when necessary, for example the passage of the Coronavirus Act and the recent legislation relating to the Northern Ireland budget.

Public trust and confidence in our democracy and its institutions is vital and this is something which I am keen to promote as Leader of the House.

" ; parl:answeringMember ; parl:answeringMemberConstituency "Portsmouth North" ; parl:answeringMemberPrinted "Penny Mordaunt" ; parl:dateOfAnswer "2023-09-11"^^xsd:dateTime ; parl:groupedQuestionUIN "196662" , "196660" , "196661" ; parl:isMinisterialCorrection false ; parl:questionFirstAnswered "2023-09-11T15:33:12.487Z"^^xsd:dateTime . rdfs:label "Biography information for Imran Hussain" . parl:answerText "

I refer the Hon. Member to my remarks in response to her point or order on 31st January (Official Report, col. 898), and my responses during business questions on the 18th January (Official Report, col. 1039-40) and the 25th January (Official Report, col. 449).

" ; parl:answeringMember ; parl:answeringMemberConstituency "Portsmouth North" ; parl:answeringMemberPrinted "Penny Mordaunt" ; parl:dateOfAnswer "2024-02-23"^^xsd:dateTime ; parl:groupedQuestionUIN "14897" ; parl:isMinisterialCorrection false ; parl:questionFirstAnswered "2024-02-23T09:00:38.42Z"^^xsd:dateTime . parl:answerText "

The Government is fully committed to a strong Parliament that effectively scrutinises legislation. In its response to the Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee's report 'Losing Impact: why the Government’s impact assessment system is failing Parliament and the public' (HL Paper 116), the Government agreed that it is important that Parliament has the information it needs and that impact assessments should be published, where possible, when an applicable instrument is laid before Parliament.

Further to that response, the Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee’s ‘Interim Report on the Work of the Committee in Session 2022-2023’ (HL Paper 205) sets out the steps the Government is taking on ensuring suitable opportunities for scrutiny by parliamentarians.

" ; parl:answeringMember ; parl:answeringMemberConstituency "Portsmouth North" ; parl:answeringMemberPrinted "Penny Mordaunt" ; parl:dateOfAnswer "2023-09-07"^^xsd:dateTime ; parl:isMinisterialCorrection false ; parl:questionFirstAnswered "2023-09-07T16:18:59.35Z"^^xsd:dateTime . rdfs:label "Biography information for Andrew Rosindell" . parl:answer ; parl:answeringDeptId "34" ; parl:answeringDeptPrinted "Leader of the House" ; parl:answeringDeptShortName "Leader of the House" ; parl:answeringDeptSortName "Leader of the House" ; parl:hansardHeading "Parliament: Civil Servants" ; parl:houseId "1" ; parl:legislature ; parl:questionText "To ask the Leader of the House, what steps she is taking to improve parliamentary capability within the civil service." ; parl:registeredInterest false ; parl:tablingMember ; parl:tablingMemberConstituency "Solihull" ; parl:tablingMemberPrinted "Julian Knight" ; parl:uin "196657" ; dcterms:date "2023-09-01"^^xsd:dateTime . parl:answerText "

I refer the hon. member to paragraph 2.13 of the Ministerial Code which states: “The fact that the Law Officers have advised or have not advised and the content of their advice must not be disclosed outside Government without their authority.”

" ; parl:answeringMember ; parl:answeringMemberConstituency "Portsmouth North" ; parl:answeringMemberPrinted "Penny Mordaunt" ; parl:dateOfAnswer "2024-03-12"^^xsd:dateTime ; parl:isMinisterialCorrection false ; parl:questionFirstAnswered "2024-03-12T08:05:47.23Z"^^xsd:dateTime . parl:answerText "

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 Members’ correspondence. 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.

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 of actions:

  • I write to Cabinet colleagues every week following Business Questions to take up the concerns raised by Members, including in relation to delayed responses to correspondence.
  • I have met with all departmental Permanent Secretaries where I reiterated the importance of substantive and timely answers to written parliamentary questions.
  • I met separately with the Home Office Permanent Secretary following a number of concerns raised during Business Questions.
  • I participated in a ‘Leading in Parliament’ session with Senior Civil Servants.
  • In line with the practice of my predecessors, I have written to all members of Cabinet.
  • 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.

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 ministerial correspondence and tailored workshops for Senior Civil Servants. Since April 2022, 1,160 civil servants from across government have attended training provided by the Parliamentary Capability Team on managing Ministerial Correspondence and Written Parliamentary Questions.

As per the Cabinet Office’s Guide to Handling Correspondence (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/handling-government-correspondence-guidance), departments and agencies should aim to respond to correspondence within a 20-working day target deadline. The Cabinet Office published data on this for 2022 for all government departments on GOV.UK in March 2023, and will be publishing data for Q1 and Q2 2023 shortly. The 2022 data can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/data-on-responses-to-correspondence-from-mps-and-peers-2022.

" ; parl:answeringMember ; parl:answeringMemberConstituency "Portsmouth North" ; parl:answeringMemberPrinted "Penny Mordaunt" ; parl:dateOfAnswer "2023-09-07"^^xsd:dateTime ; parl:isMinisterialCorrection false ; parl:questionFirstAnswered "2023-09-07T16:12:08.757Z"^^xsd:dateTime . parl:answerText "

The Standing Orders provide for thirteen sitting Fridays per session. The House can agree, on a Government motion, to sit on additional Fridays when required. This is usually appropriate when the length of a session has been extended.

With the support of the Government, 24 Private Members’ Bills were passed in the last session, with only one additional Friday allocated. This is more than the 2021-22 session, which saw 13 Private Members’ Bills reach Royal Assent in thirteen sitting Fridays. This clearly demonstrates that sufficient support from across the House is more important in the successful passage of Private Members’ Bills than additional parliamentary time.

" ; parl:answeringMember ; parl:answeringMemberConstituency "Portsmouth North" ; parl:answeringMemberPrinted "Penny Mordaunt" ; parl:dateOfAnswer "2024-01-11"^^xsd:dateTime ; parl:isMinisterialCorrection false ; parl:questionFirstAnswered "2024-01-11T15:24:00.763Z"^^xsd:dateTime . parl:answerText "

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 (https://committees.parliament.uk/work/1245/written-parliamentary-questions/publications), 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.

" ; parl:answeringMember ; parl:answeringMemberConstituency "Portsmouth North" ; parl:answeringMemberPrinted "Penny Mordaunt" ; parl:dateOfAnswer "2024-02-06"^^xsd:dateTime ; parl:isMinisterialCorrection false ; parl:questionFirstAnswered "2024-02-06T11:05:24.407Z"^^xsd:dateTime . rdfs:label "Biography information for Sir Greg Knight" . parl:answer ; parl:answeringDeptId "34" ; parl:answeringDeptPrinted "Leader of the House" ; parl:answeringDeptShortName "Leader of the House" ; parl:answeringDeptSortName "Leader of the House" ; parl:hansardHeading "Leader of the House: Official Hospitality" ; parl:houseId "1" ; parl:legislature ; parl:questionText "To ask the Leader of the House, how much her office spent on hospitality in (a) 2021, (b) 2022 and (c) 2023." ; parl:registeredInterest false ; parl:tablingMember ; parl:tablingMemberConstituency "Hemsworth" ; parl:tablingMemberPrinted "Jon Trickett" ; parl:uin "5744" ; dcterms:date "2023-12-07"^^xsd:dateTime . parl:answer ; parl:answeringDeptId "34" ; parl:answeringDeptPrinted "Leader of the House" ; parl:answeringDeptShortName "Leader of the House" ; parl:answeringDeptSortName "Leader of the House" ; parl:hansardHeading "Legislative Process" ; parl:houseId "1" ; parl:legislature ; parl:questionText "To ask the Leader of the House, what steps she is taking to help increase public (a) engagement in and (b) understanding of the legislative process." ; parl:registeredInterest false ; parl:tablingMember ; parl:tablingMemberConstituency "Solihull" ; parl:tablingMemberPrinted "Julian Knight" ; parl:uin "196662" ; dcterms:date "2023-09-01"^^xsd:dateTime . parl:answer ; parl:answeringDeptId "34" ; parl:answeringDeptPrinted "Leader of the House" ; parl:answeringDeptShortName "Leader of the House" ; parl:answeringDeptSortName "Leader of the House" ; parl:hansardHeading "Government Bills" ; parl:houseId "1" ; parl:legislature ; parl:questionText "To ask the Leader of the House, how many Government Bills have been withdrawn in each year since 2010." ; parl:registeredInterest false ; parl:tablingMember ; parl:tablingMemberConstituency "Oldham West and Royton" ; parl:tablingMemberPrinted "Jim McMahon" ; parl:uin "200115" ; dcterms:date "2023-09-18"^^xsd:dateTime . parl:answerText "

In July 2023, the Cabinet Office published its response to three reports on strengthening ethics and integrity in central government. This states: “The Government will be implementing comprehensive reforms to improve the quality and accessibility of departments' transparency returns, which cover meetings, gifts, hospitality and travel.”

“The Cabinet Office is developing a single platform to collate and publish departments' transparency returns. This will provide a single public source of transparency data, replacing the system of separate publications. Following the deployment and adoption of an integrated database, the Government will look to move departments' transparency publications from a quarterly to a monthly basis.” The full response is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/strengthening-ethics-and-integrity-in-central-government

My office is already collating monthly returns and we are working with the Cabinet Office in order to publish these ahead of the new system being rolled out across Government.

Separately, and in line with the Ministerial Code, the List of Ministers’ Interests is published twice yearly with updates issued at other times as needed.

" ; parl:answeringMember ; parl:answeringMemberConstituency "Portsmouth North" ; parl:answeringMemberPrinted "Penny Mordaunt" ; parl:dateOfAnswer "2024-01-15"^^xsd:dateTime ; parl:isMinisterialCorrection false ; parl:questionFirstAnswered "2024-01-15T16:05:41.237Z"^^xsd:dateTime . rdfs:label "Biography information for Penny Mordaunt" . rdfs:label "Biography information for Sir Chris Bryant" . parl:answerText "

I refer the Hon. Member to my remarks in response to her point or order on 31st January (Official Report, col. 898), and my responses during business questions on the 18th January (Official Report, col. 1039-40) and the 25th January (Official Report, col. 449).

" ; parl:answeringMember ; parl:answeringMemberConstituency "Portsmouth North" ; parl:answeringMemberPrinted "Penny Mordaunt" ; parl:dateOfAnswer "2024-02-23"^^xsd:dateTime ; parl:groupedQuestionUIN "14896" ; parl:isMinisterialCorrection false ; parl:questionFirstAnswered "2024-02-23T09:00:38.467Z"^^xsd:dateTime . parl:answerText "

As the Government’s representative on the House of Commons Commission, I work closely with all Members of the Commission on a range of matters and will continue to do so.

The Commission is responsible for the administration and services of the House of Commons. In order to inform the Commission’s work, I recently instigated a survey of all Members to better understand their needs and the support required to do their job and was pleased by the level of participation. I look forward to considering its findings.

Further information regarding the agendas and decisions of the House of Commons Commission is available on parliament.uk.

" ; parl:answeringMember ; parl:answeringMemberConstituency "Portsmouth North" ; parl:answeringMemberPrinted "Penny Mordaunt" ; parl:dateOfAnswer "2023-09-07"^^xsd:dateTime ; parl:isMinisterialCorrection false ; parl:questionFirstAnswered "2023-09-07T16:14:59.947Z"^^xsd:dateTime . parl:answerText "

This information is not collected centrally. Decisions on each policy area are a matter for individual Departments.

Written Parliamentary Questions and Early Day Motions are important ways in which MPs can hold the Government to account and scrutinise policy.

" ; parl:answeringMember ; parl:answeringMemberConstituency "Portsmouth North" ; parl:answeringMemberPrinted "Penny Mordaunt" ; parl:dateOfAnswer "2023-09-07"^^xsd:dateTime ; parl:groupedQuestionUIN "197321" ; parl:isMinisterialCorrection false ; parl:questionFirstAnswered "2023-09-07T16:22:38.927Z"^^xsd:dateTime . parl:answer ; parl:answeringDeptId "34" ; parl:answeringDeptPrinted "Leader of the House" ; parl:answeringDeptShortName "Leader of the House" ; parl:answeringDeptSortName "Leader of the House" ; parl:hansardHeading "House of Commons Members Estimate Committee" ; parl:houseId "1" ; parl:legislature ; parl:questionText "To ask the Leader of the House, what her priorities are for providing oversight of the House of Commons Members Estimate." ; parl:registeredInterest false ; parl:tablingMember ; parl:tablingMemberConstituency "Solihull" ; parl:tablingMemberPrinted "Julian Knight" ; parl:uin "196656" ; dcterms:date "2023-09-01"^^xsd:dateTime . parl:answer ; parl:answeringDeptId "34" ; parl:answeringDeptPrinted "Leader of the House" ; parl:answeringDeptShortName "Leader of the House" ; parl:answeringDeptSortName "Leader of the House" ; parl:hansardHeading "Arms Trade: Parliamentary Scrutiny" ; parl:houseId "1" ; parl:legislature ; parl:questionText "To ask the Leader of the House, if she will take steps with Cabinet colleagues to increase parliamentary scrutiny of UK strategic export controls for military goods." ; parl:registeredInterest false ; parl:tablingMember ; parl:tablingMemberConstituency "Bradford East" ; parl:tablingMemberPrinted "Imran Hussain" ; parl:uin "13711" ; dcterms:date "2024-02-08"^^xsd:dateTime . parl:answerText "

The government recognises the importance of effective Parliamentary scrutiny of strategic export controls and takes these matters very seriously. The UK operates one of the most transparent export licensing systems in the world, publishing quarterly and annual statistics on all of our export licensing decisions, including details of export licences granted, refused and revoked. The government is required by statute to present an Annual Report on UK Strategic Export Controls detailing the government’s approach to export licensing, including international commitments. The most recent quarterly data on strategic export controls is available on gov.uk (https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/strategic-export-controls-licensing-statistics-1-april-to-30-june-2023), as is the annual report for 2022 (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/uk-strategic-export-controls-annual-report-2022).

As of January 2024, the Business and Trade Committee is the Parliamentary scrutiny committee with oversight of arms export controls, a role formerly carried out by the Select Committee on Arms Exports Controls (CAEC). A joint report outlining plans for future parliamentary scrutiny of strategic export controls was published by the Business and Trade, Foreign Affairs and International Development Committees on 23rd January 2024 and can be found on parliament.uk (https://committees.parliament.uk/publications/42982/documents/213812/default/).

The Government recognises the important role that the CAEC played in providing Parliamentary scrutiny of export controls and the work of the Export Control Joint Unit (ECJU). While Parliamentary scrutiny is a matter for the House, the government is committed to keeping the Business and Trade Committee updated on the work of the ECJU as it carries out its new scrutiny role. Other relevant select committees will no doubt continue to examine strategic export controls as part of their wider work, allowing a broad range of scrutiny across the House.

Hon and Rt Hon Members can also raise matters relating to the scrutiny of the UK's strategic export controls directly with the Department for Business and Trade.

" ; parl:answeringMember ; parl:answeringMemberConstituency "Portsmouth North" ; parl:answeringMemberPrinted "Penny Mordaunt" ; parl:dateOfAnswer "2024-02-19"^^xsd:dateTime ; parl:isMinisterialCorrection false ; parl:questionFirstAnswered "2024-02-19T17:24:11.647Z"^^xsd:dateTime . rdfs:label "Biography information for Julian Knight" . rdfs:label "Biography information for Jonathan Ashworth" . parl:answerText "

Government is working hard to prepare the legislative programme for the next session of Parliament in the usual way. The programme will be announced in the King’s Speech at the State Opening of Parliament on 7th November.

Good progress is being made in delivering the Government’s legislative programme and manifesto commitments. So far this session, 30 Government Bills have reached Royal Assent. In addition, the Government has worked with members on all sides of the House to deliver 16 private members' bills. Details of all Acts of Parliament can be found on legislation.gov.uk.

Parliament has shown that it provides flexibility in debating legislation and adapts when necessary, for example the passage of the Coronavirus Act and the recent legislation relating to the Northern Ireland budget.

Public trust and confidence in our democracy and its institutions is vital and this is something which I am keen to promote as Leader of the House.

" ; parl:answeringMember ; parl:answeringMemberConstituency "Portsmouth North" ; parl:answeringMemberPrinted "Penny Mordaunt" ; parl:dateOfAnswer "2023-09-11"^^xsd:dateTime ; parl:groupedQuestionUIN "196662" , "196661" , "196654" ; parl:isMinisterialCorrection false ; parl:questionFirstAnswered "2023-09-11T15:33:12.533Z"^^xsd:dateTime . rdfs:label "Biography information for Jon Trickett" . parl:answer ; parl:answeringDeptId "34" ; parl:answeringDeptPrinted "Leader of the House" ; parl:answeringDeptShortName "Leader of the House" ; parl:answeringDeptSortName "Leader of the House" ; parl:hansardHeading "Legislation" ; parl:houseId "1" ; parl:legislature ; parl:questionText "To ask the Leader of the House, what steps she is taking to ensure flexibility in the legislative programme." ; parl:registeredInterest false ; parl:tablingMember ; parl:tablingMemberConstituency "Solihull" ; parl:tablingMemberPrinted "Julian Knight" ; parl:uin "196661" ; dcterms:date "2023-09-01"^^xsd:dateTime . parl:answer ; parl:answeringDeptId "34" ; parl:answeringDeptPrinted "Leader of the House" ; parl:answeringDeptShortName "Leader of the House" ; parl:answeringDeptSortName "Leader of the House" ; parl:hansardHeading "Ministers: Members' Interests" ; parl:houseId "1" ; parl:legislature ; parl:questionText "To ask the Leader of the House, with reference to her oral contributions of 12 December 2022, Official Report column 823, and 30 March 2023, Official Report column 1168, when she plans that the the ministerial registration of interests, hospitality, gifts and so forth will be put on the same footing as Parliament’s." ; parl:registeredInterest false ; parl:tablingMember ; parl:tablingMemberConstituency "Rhondda" ; parl:tablingMemberPrinted "Sir Chris Bryant" ; parl:uin "7805" ; dcterms:date "2024-01-05"^^xsd:dateTime . parl:answerText "

The Procedure Committee has announced an inquiry into this issue and it would not be appropriate for me to pre-empt the conclusions of that inquiry.

" ; parl:answeringMember ; parl:answeringMemberConstituency "Portsmouth North" ; parl:answeringMemberPrinted "Penny Mordaunt" ; parl:dateOfAnswer "2023-11-27"^^xsd:dateTime ; parl:isMinisterialCorrection false ; parl:questionFirstAnswered "2023-11-27T09:20:42.983Z"^^xsd:dateTime . parl:answer ; parl:answeringDeptId "34" ; parl:answeringDeptPrinted "Leader of the House" ; parl:answeringDeptShortName "Leader of the House" ; parl:answeringDeptSortName "Leader of the House" ; parl:hansardHeading "Leader of the House of Commons: House of Commons Commission" ; parl:houseId "1" ; parl:legislature ; parl:questionText "To ask the Leader of the House, what steps she is taking to help improve collaboration with the House of Commons Commission." ; parl:registeredInterest false ; parl:tablingMember ; parl:tablingMemberConstituency "Solihull" ; parl:tablingMemberPrinted "Julian Knight" ; parl:uin "196655" ; dcterms:date "2023-09-01"^^xsd:dateTime . parl:answer ; parl:answeringDeptId "34" ; parl:answeringDeptPrinted "Leader of the House" ; parl:answeringDeptShortName "Leader of the House" ; parl:answeringDeptSortName "Leader of the House" ; parl:hansardHeading "Leader of the House of Commons: Defamation" ; parl:houseId "1" ; parl:legislature ; parl:questionText "To ask the Leader of the House, with reference to paragraphs 7.16 and 7.17 of the Ministerial Code, on how many occasions she has informed the Law Officers that she is the defendant in a libel action in (a) her personal capacity, (b) her official position and (c) both since 19 December 2019." ; parl:registeredInterest false ; parl:tablingMember ; parl:tablingMemberConstituency "Manchester Central" ; parl:tablingMemberPrinted "Lucy Powell" ; parl:uin "17567" ; dcterms:date "2024-03-07"^^xsd:dateTime . rdfs:label "Biography information for Jim McMahon" . parl:answerText "

I refer the Hon Member to the answer to be provided by the Cabinet Office to his Question 196664.

" ; parl:answeringMember ; parl:answeringMemberConstituency "Portsmouth North" ; parl:answeringMemberPrinted "Penny Mordaunt" ; parl:dateOfAnswer "2023-09-11"^^xsd:dateTime ; parl:isMinisterialCorrection false ; parl:questionFirstAnswered "2023-09-11T15:41:23.78Z"^^xsd:dateTime . parl:answer ; parl:answeringDeptId "34" ; parl:answeringDeptPrinted "Leader of the House" ; parl:answeringDeptShortName "Leader of the House" ; parl:answeringDeptSortName "Leader of the House" ; parl:hansardHeading "Private Members' Bills" ; parl:houseId "1" ; parl:legislature ; parl:questionText "To ask the Leader of the House, if she will take steps to increase the amount of parliamentary time given to debate Private Members' Bills in the 2023-24 parliamentary session." ; parl:registeredInterest false ; parl:tablingMember ; parl:tablingMemberConstituency "Solihull" ; parl:tablingMemberPrinted "Julian Knight" ; parl:uin "8006" ; dcterms:date "2024-01-05"^^xsd:dateTime . parl:answerText "

The Members Estimate Committee, which has the same MP membership as the House of Commons Commission, is appointed by the House of Commons under Standing Order 152D. The Committee’s agenda items are often discussed as part of the House of Commons Commission meetings and, as the Government’s representative on the House of Commons Commission, I have regular discussions with Members of the Commission on a range of matters and will continue to do so.

" ; parl:answeringMember ; parl:answeringMemberConstituency "Portsmouth North" ; parl:answeringMemberPrinted "Penny Mordaunt" ; parl:dateOfAnswer "2023-09-07"^^xsd:dateTime ; parl:isMinisterialCorrection false ; parl:questionFirstAnswered "2023-09-07T16:13:25.887Z"^^xsd:dateTime . parl:answer ; parl:answeringDeptId "34" ; parl:answeringDeptPrinted "Leader of the House" ; parl:answeringDeptShortName "Leader of the House" ; parl:answeringDeptSortName "Leader of the House" ; parl:hansardHeading "Government Departments: Written Questions" ; parl:houseId "1" ; parl:legislature ; parl:questionText "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." ; parl:registeredInterest false ; parl:tablingMember ; parl:tablingMemberConstituency "Walthamstow" ; parl:tablingMemberPrinted "Stella Creasy" ; parl:uin "12618" ; dcterms:date "2024-02-01"^^xsd:dateTime . parl:answer ; parl:answeringDeptId "34" ; parl:answeringDeptPrinted "Leader of the House" ; parl:answeringDeptShortName "Leader of the House" ; parl:answeringDeptSortName "Leader of the House" ; parl:hansardHeading "Parliamentary Business and Legislation Committee" ; parl:houseId "1" ; parl:legislature ; parl:questionText "To ask the Leader of the House, how many times has the Parliamentary Business and Legislation Cabinet Committee met in the last 12 months." ; parl:registeredInterest false ; parl:tablingMember ; parl:tablingMemberConstituency "Solihull" ; parl:tablingMemberPrinted "Julian Knight" ; parl:uin "196653" ; dcterms:date "2023-09-01"^^xsd:dateTime . parl:answer ; parl:answeringDeptId "34" ; parl:answeringDeptPrinted "Leader of the House" ; parl:answeringDeptShortName "Leader of the House" ; parl:answeringDeptSortName "Leader of the House" ; parl:hansardHeading "House of Lords: Accountability" ; parl:houseId "1" ; parl:legislature ; parl:questionText "To ask the Leader of the House, if she will bring forward proposals to implement the recommendations in the Third Report of the House of Commons Procedure Committee of Session 2009-10 on Accountability to the House of Commons of Secretaries of State in the House of Lords, HC496, which was published on 22 March 2010." ; parl:registeredInterest false ; parl:tablingMember ; parl:tablingMemberConstituency "East Yorkshire" ; parl:tablingMemberPrinted "Sir Greg Knight" ; parl:uin "2783" ; dcterms:date "2023-11-21"^^xsd:dateTime . parl:answer ; parl:answeringDeptId "34" ; parl:answeringDeptPrinted "Leader of the House" ; parl:answeringDeptShortName "Leader of the House" ; parl:answeringDeptSortName "Leader of the House" ; parl:hansardHeading "Leader of the House of Commons: Recruitment" ; parl:houseId "1" ; parl:legislature ; parl:questionText "To ask the Leader of the House, how much her office spent on external recruitment consultants in the (a) 2020-21, (b) 2021-22 and (c) 2022-23 financial year." ; parl:registeredInterest false ; parl:tablingMember ; parl:tablingMemberConstituency "Leicester South" ; parl:tablingMemberPrinted "Jonathan Ashworth" ; parl:uin "6600" ; dcterms:date "2023-12-12"^^xsd:dateTime . rdfs:label "Biography information for Patricia Gibson" . parl:answer ; parl:answeringDeptId "34" ; parl:answeringDeptPrinted "Leader of the House" ; parl:answeringDeptShortName "Leader of the House" ; parl:answeringDeptSortName "Leader of the House" ; parl:hansardHeading "Public Finance" ; parl:houseId "1" ; parl:legislature ; parl:questionText "To ask the Leader of the House, with reference to (a) her oral contribution on 11 January 2024, Official Report, columns 455-456 and (b) figures stated in the Office for Budget Responsibility’s Public finances databank – December 2023, published on 23 December 2023, on what evidential basis she stated that the Government has managed to have a balanced budget." ; parl:registeredInterest false ; parl:tablingMember ; parl:tablingMemberConstituency "North Ayrshire and Arran" ; parl:tablingMemberPrinted "Patricia Gibson" ; parl:uin "14897" ; dcterms:date "2024-02-20"^^xsd:dateTime . parl:answer ; parl:answeringDeptId "34" ; parl:answeringDeptPrinted "Leader of the House" ; parl:answeringDeptShortName "Leader of the House" ; parl:answeringDeptSortName "Leader of the House" ; parl:hansardHeading "Written Questions" ; parl:houseId "1" ; parl:legislature ; parl:questionText "To ask the Leader of the House, whether she has made an estimate of how many and what proportion of written questions from Hon and Rt hon. members have resulted in the Government (a) changing policy and (b) taking particular action in the last year." ; parl:registeredInterest false ; parl:tablingMember ; parl:tablingMemberConstituency "Warrington North" ; parl:tablingMemberPrinted "Charlotte Nichols" ; parl:uin "197229" ; dcterms:date "2023-09-01"^^xsd:dateTime . parl:answerText "

Government is working hard to prepare the legislative programme for the next session of Parliament in the usual way. The programme will be announced in the King’s Speech at the State Opening of Parliament on 7th November.

Good progress is being made in delivering the Government’s legislative programme and manifesto commitments. So far this session, 30 Government Bills have reached Royal Assent. In addition, the Government has worked with members on all sides of the House to deliver 16 private members' bills. Details of all Acts of Parliament can be found on legislation.gov.uk.

Parliament has shown that it provides flexibility in debating legislation and adapts when necessary, for example the passage of the Coronavirus Act and the recent legislation relating to the Northern Ireland budget.

Public trust and confidence in our democracy and its institutions is vital and this is something which I am keen to promote as Leader of the House.

" ; parl:answeringMember ; parl:answeringMemberConstituency "Portsmouth North" ; parl:answeringMemberPrinted "Penny Mordaunt" ; parl:dateOfAnswer "2023-09-11"^^xsd:dateTime ; parl:groupedQuestionUIN "196654" , "196660" , "196662" ; parl:isMinisterialCorrection false ; parl:questionFirstAnswered "2023-09-11T15:33:12.58Z"^^xsd:dateTime . parl:answer ; parl:answeringDeptId "34" ; parl:answeringDeptPrinted "Leader of the House" ; parl:answeringDeptShortName "Leader of the House" ; parl:answeringDeptSortName "Leader of the House" ; parl:hansardHeading "Legislation" ; parl:houseId "1" ; parl:legislature ; parl:questionText "To ask the Leader of the House, what steps she is taking to measure the (a) success and (b) efficiency of the government's legislative programme." ; parl:registeredInterest false ; parl:tablingMember ; parl:tablingMemberConstituency "Solihull" ; parl:tablingMemberPrinted "Julian Knight" ; parl:uin "196660" ; dcterms:date "2023-09-01"^^xsd:dateTime . a api:Page ; "25"^^xsd:long ; "1"^^xsd:long ; "3178"^^xsd:long ; dcterms:isPartOf ; api:definition ; api:extendedMetadataVersion ; api:items ( ) ; api:page "0"^^xsd:long ; ; . a api:ListEndpoint ; dcterms:hasPart ; api:definition .