Practice in recent years is well-established: Private Members' Bills introduced in the House of Lords are offered Second Reading slots in the order in which they receive their First Reading. Second Readings for Private Members' Bills introduced this session have been scheduled on Friday 27 June and Friday 18 July; further Second Readings will be arranged in due course. A ballot to determine the order in which Private Members' Bills receive their First Reading will be introduced from the start of the new Parliament (3rd Report of the Procedure Committee, Session 2013-14).<\/p>
For Bills that receive a Second Reading, formal consideration of their remaining stages will be arranged where no amendments are tabled and where the Member in charge so requests. Where Bills receive a Second Reading but require further substantive consideration of amendments, they will be competing for time with Private Members' Bills that are received from the House of Commons and Private Members' Bills introduced in this House that are still awaiting a Second Reading.<\/p>
My noble friend the Government Chief Whip will endeavour to facilitate the progress of bills in each of those categories.<\/p>
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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. The Ministerial Code says that \u201cMinisters 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\u201d.<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4144", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Lord Hill of Oareford"} } , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Lord Hill of Oareford"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2014-05-13", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2014-05-13T12:00:00.00Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "92"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : ""} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Leader of the House of Lords"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2014-05-07", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "2"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25277", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Lords"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask the Leader of the House, in the light of the answers on 6 May to written questions tabled by Lord Mendelsohn, what steps he will take to ensure that the replies to written questions answer the question which was put as fully as possible.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/883", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Lord Jopling"} } , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Lord Jopling"} ], "uin" : "HL6992"} , {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/42668", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Leader of the House of Lords"} ], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/42668/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : "
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. The importance of this direct accountability is such that I recently decided, following the introduction of a new system for answering QWAs electronically, to require Ministers in this House to continue providing personally signed answers to noble Lords. The Ministerial Code states that \u201cIt is of paramount importance that Ministers give accurate and truthful information to Parliament\u201d.<\/p>
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Of the 13 questions to the Ministry of Justice that remained unanswered after 10 working days on 27 February, all but one have now been answered. <\/p>"}
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I take the matter of late answers to Questions for Written Answer very seriously. My office reviews the ‘Questions unanswered after 10 working days’ in House of Lords Business <\/em>every day. As soon as a question appears in this section of House of Lords Business<\/em>, my office contacts the relevant department’s Parliamentary Team, and they remain in contact with the Parliamentary Team and the Minister’s Private Office until the question is answered.
I have also recently taken the opportunity to discuss the need for timely answers with members of the front bench in this House.<\/p>