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7.1 Scrutiny of Government is a key responsibility of Parliament. This is undertaken in several ways, but particularly by MPs using opportunities to ask questions. The principal method is to ‘table’ or ‘put down’ questions for written answer in the House of Commons. The substantive part of this chapter considers this process, including the rules for questions and best practice for departments in answering them. Also covered are written questions in the House of Lords, oral questions to Ministers, and other opportunities, including urgent questions.
7.2 Erskine May states that the purpose of questions is to ‘obtain information or to press for action’. Most will be asking questions of government ministers although it should be noted that other Members with specific representative roles (eg. House of Commons Commission Spokesman, the Second Church Estates Commissioner etc.) are also responsible for answering questions. By convention members of the Government are excluded from asking questions.
Motives for questions include:
7.3 Ministers’ obligations to Parliament are set out in the Ministerial Code1:
‘It is of paramount importance that Ministers give accurate and truthful information to Parliament, correcting any inadvertent error at the earliest opportunity. Ministers who knowingly mislead Parliament will be expected to offer their resignation to the Prime Minister.’
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, which should be decided in accordance with the relevant statutes and the Freedom of Information Act 2000.’
7.4 The ‘Guidance to Officials on Drafting Answers to Parliamentary Questions’2, last issued by the Cabinet Office in February 2005, further states that ‘it is a civil servant’s responsibility to Ministers to help them fulfil these obligations. It is the Minister’s right and responsibility to decide how to do so. Ministers want to explain and present Government policy and actions in a positive light. Ministers will rightly expect a draft answer that does full justice to the Government’s position.’
7.5 Within the limits of a question (and its supplementaries in the case of an oral), a Member can raise any matter falling within the responsibility of a Minister. This may be clear cut in many cases but there are a range of examples where a question would be ruled out of order because government does not have responsibility. These include spending by Local Authorities and Foundation Trusts etc (although Government has overall responsibility for local government spending), court decisions, operational police matters and the actions of EU institutions.
7.6 A question must satisfy a set of rules governing content and form before it can be placed on the Order Paper. Most of these stem from the basic rule that a PQ should either seek information or press for action. For example, a question:
7.7 Questions may not relate to matters devolved to the Scottish Government or the Wales Assembly Government unless they:
Similar principles apply in respect of the Northern Ireland Executive.
7.8 Further rules apply whereby a question which has already been asked and fully answered cannot be asked again for three months unless there are grounds to believe the situation has changed. Where a Minister has refused to provide the information requested or take the action proposed by the question, it may be asked again after three months. This avoids unnecessary repetition in Hansard and the question book of identical exchanges. For the same reason very similar questions are discouraged, as are questions seeking information already in the public domain. These issues are discussed further in answering questions.
7.9 An additional rule relating to oral questions precludes Members from putting down ‘open’ questions, i.e. ones that do not suggest the subject matter of the supplementary question. The exceptions to this rule are PMQs and topical question slots.
7.10 Table Office Clerks (who are officers of the House of Commons, not civil servants) ensure that questions comply with the rules of the House. They advise a Member if a question appears to breach a rule and, where necessary, how an amendment can bring it into order.
7.11 MPs can table written Parliamentary Questions for answer on any day in which the House of Commons is sitting. In addition, after the House has risen for the summer adjournment, Members may table named day questions to Government Departments for answer on each of the recess answering days under the terms of Standing Order No.22B (this also allows government departments to issue Written Ministerial Statements during the summer recess). The relevant tabling and answering days for each session are ordered by the House following a motion from the Leader of the House some weeks before the House rises.
7.12 Written questions take three forms:
7.13 Questions are handed in or sent to the Clerks in the Table Office (House of Commons). Each Member is restricted to no more than two questions for oral answer per day period; and not more than one oral question to any individual Minister per day, as well as a topical question to each department answering them. There is no limit to the number of Questions a Member may put down for ordinary written answer, but since January 2003 MPs have been restricted to asking a maximum five 'Named Day' PQs per day. The e-tabling application of the Parliamentary intranet allows the text of oral and written PQs to be submitted electronically.
7.14 After a question has been tabled, a Member may give notice of withdrawal or change from one type of question to another, providing it is still within the rules of notice. An Oral may be ’Unstarred’ - this then becomes a Named Day Written. Questions for written answer are deemed to have been called at 09:30am on the date set down for answer and questions for oral answer not called by the Speaker are deemed to have been called once question time is over on the day they are due for answer and no changes can thereafter be made to them.
7.15 A question is removed from the Question Book only if:
7.16 In circumstances where a Member have been appointed to the Government or elected as Speaker, and a date for a question for written answer printed in the Question Book has passed, the question should not be answered as a Parliamentary Question. The Department concerned may wish to provide the information requested by means of a letter.
7.17 MPs may table oral questions to a Minister any time after the previous question time for that department has concluded. Although oral questions may therefore be tabled some weeks in advance of the actual question time, they will not be published until after 12.30pm, three sitting days (or five days in the case of the Secretaries of State for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland), excluding Fridays, before the day for answering.
7.18 Following the introduction of topical questions, two ballots are held at 12.30pm for oral questions to departments answering topical questions. One ballot is for substantive oral questions and the other is for the opportunity to ask a topical oral question. Members may enter and be successful in either ballot or both. When the ballot or ‘shuffle’ has taken place, questions tabled are emailed to Parliamentary Clerks in the relevant departments.
7.19 All questions tabled first appear in the Notices of Questions section of the ‘blues’. It is from the ‘blues’ that government departments start preparing ministerial replies. They are also the first opportunity for Members to see where they are placed in the oral questions ballot, and to check the correct printing of questions.
7.20 Occasionally, a question is tabled which does not fall within the responsibilities of Ministers in the department to which it is addressed. After agreement between the first department to which the question was addressed and another which accepts responsibility for answering, the question is transferred. The Table Office and the Member who asked the question must be informed promptly. Parliamentary Branches should ring the Uppper Table Office (020 7219 3731) to confirm the reciept by the Table Office of a fax of a letter notifying the transfer. The Table Office will not accept notices of transfer which arrive after close of play on the sitting day after the notice of the orginal question was given. Guidance given by the Leader of the House in a response to a Parliamentary Question on transferring questions on 16th February 20065, states ‘I expect Departments to act promptly in transferring questions. It is a discourtesy to the House and to hon. Members if they are not notified of the transfer within two sitting days of it appearing in the Notice Paper. However, an oral question should be transferred within 24 hours of it appearing in the Notice Paper and not on the day for answer.’ Departments should not refuse to accept a transfer, if it rightly lies within their responsibilities, even if the delay in transfer leads to the answer being late. Transferred questions are reprinted in ‘the blues’ with [transferred] after it. Where an answer is being given by a Minister of a department other than the one to which the question was tabled (i.e a question which could have been transferred but was not) it should start with the phrase ‘I have been asked to reply’.
7.21 A question is classified as a ‘round robin’ when it has been tabled to three or more departments in the same or very similar format. Although individual Ministers are ultimately responsible and accountable for deciding on the terms of answers in their name, it is helpful to them and drafting officials to have advice from the department with lead responsibility for the topic in question in framing their answer. Any available round robin advice should be included in the background information for the Minister when signing the PQ. Cabinet Office Parliamentary Branch can supply officials responsible for drafting ‘round robin’ advice with relevant guidance. Departments should not delay preparing an answer until ‘round robin’ advice is provided and should not miss the targets set out below for similar reasons. Departments will be specifically instructed if they should not answer a ‘round robin’ question until central guidance has been issued. Departments who have been asked to provide ‘round robin’ guidance to other departments should do this within 24 hours.
7.22 Before the 2002-03 session, questions, known as ‘planted’ or inspired questions, were used. These were printed on the Order Paper for the first time on the day they were due to be answered, having only been tabled the previous sitting day. Such short notice was allowed because the Minister to whom it was addressed had indicated that they were prepared to answer it on that day. It was frequently used to make a formal government announcement to the House. The introduction of Written Ministerial Statements largely rendered this process obsolete, although it is occasionally used by those answering Members who do not have access to the written ministerial statement process (e.g. the spokesman for the House of Commons Commission). Members may insist on tabling questions for answer on the next sitting day, though the Table Office advises Members wishing to do this, that they should have obtained the agreement of the answering Department before doing so.
7.23 For whatever purpose a Member puts a question, the process of answering is one in which Ministers provide a personal account, in relation to the issue raised, of the work and conduct of their department and the exercise of their own powers and responsibilities.
7.24 As a general rule, answers to all Parliamentary Questions should be accurate, brief and clear. Answers should also be honest and truthful and should answer the question being asked. Both the Ministerial Code and the Civil Service code place the onus on those responsible for answers not to mislead. The Cabinet Office guidelines state that officials ‘do not omit information sought merely because disclosure could lead to political embarrassment or administrative inconvenience’. They go on to say 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, which should be decided in accordance with the relevant statutes and the Freedom of Information Act 2000.’
7.25 Successive Leaders of the House have consistently set out the clear expectation that departments should ensure that Members receive a substantive response to their named day question on the date specified, and should endeavour to answer ordinary written questions within a working week of being tabled. (See PQ answer of 16 February 2006 (official report vol 442, col 2379)). This is in line with the formal position set out in Erskine May and endorsed by the House in 1972, when Named Day Questions were first introduced. Departments should endeavour to respond to questions for ordinary written ‘within a working week of tabling’. In practice this is taken to mean within five sitting days (including non-sitting Fridays) of a question's publication on the blue notice paper (with day of publication on the blue notice paper being day 1). Where a question falls for answer on a non-sitting Friday then the fifth sitting day for these purposes is taken as the next sitting day.
7.26 There is an advisory cost limit known as the disproportionate cost threshold (DCT) which is the level above which Departments can refuse to answer a PQ. The current disproportionate cost threshold for written questions (the limit does not apply to oral questions) is £800 (from 20 January 2010)6.
7.27 Since 1991 the disproportionate cost threshold (DCT) has been set by HM Treasury at eight times the average marginal cost of answering Written Parliamentary Questions. Marginal cost is judged as the direct cost of civil servants' time. Average marginal cost is based on a one-month sample of all Written parliamentary Questions answered by those departments with the highest volume of questions. Such samples are taken on a quinquennial basis. In years between quinquennial samples, the Treasury applies indexation to the DCT, but only increases it in £50 steps to avoid the need for frequent small changes. HM Treasury has established the average cost of answering of a written PQ as £154.00 and an oral question as £425.00.
7.28 Where officials are recommending that a question is not answered due to disproportionate cost, a note setting out the reasons, justifications and the full costs should be provided to the responsible Minister. The cost estimate should be based on a calculation of the cost of civil servants of the relevant grade working for the required length of time to assemble the information. Cabinet Office guidance for officials drafting answers to PQs refers to the fact that ‘where information is being refused on the grounds of disproportionate cost, there should be a presumption that any of the requested information which is readily available should be provided.’ A Minister may still decide to answer a question, even if providing the answer results in costs above the DCT, for example, on public interest grounds.
7.29 It is practice in some departments to agree to provide a Member information initially refused (on disproportionate cost grounds) by paying the balance over the disproportionate cost threshold. However, this option may not be available if the relevant officials would not in practice be available to do the work.
7.30 It should be noted that the ‘disproportionate cost’ answer is intended to be used where the information is held in an accessible form but is expensive to identify. It is not for cases where the information is not held at all (in the latter case the answer would say ‘the information is not held’ or similar).
7.31 The suggested wording for a disproportionate cost answer is:
“The information is not readily available/held centrally and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.”
7.32 Members are advised that questions ‘must be seeking information that is not readily available elsewhere in the public domain’7 (including in answers to identical or similar questions in a previous session). Increasingly, this is the case as more and more information is available on government websites, though not necessarily in the format requested in the question
7.33 Where an answer makes use of published material (e.g. statistics, economic data or quotations from reports) the source should be given, as appropriate, either in the text of the answer or as a footnote. Attached papers (for example, statistical tables) should be deposited in the Libraries of the House. If reference is made to documents in a response, copies of these documents must also be placed in the Library.
7.34 A PQ may be answered by referring to a previous answer where it fully answers the new question. Referrals should not normally be used where the previous answer was given in a previous Session. Similarly, references back to answers given many months before in the same Session are avoided as far as possible. Where it is appropriate to refer back to an earlier answer, the formula used is:
“I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to the hon. Member for (constituency) on (date), Official Report, [insert columns eg column(s) 112-113]”.
7.35 The reason for the referral should be fully explained in the background note for the answering Minister and a copy of the previous reply should be shown to the Minister and also provided to the Member in hard copy with their answer. Answers that refer to an answer given in the House of Lords should be accompanied by a copy of that answer.
7.36 Where the answer was given in a previous session, or many months before in the same session, as long as it is still accurate and up to date, it may simply be repeated.
7.37 Where information already exists on a Government website, it may not be appropriate to simply give the web address in the answer. MPs may want information placed on the permanent record (ie in Hansard) and web pages are rarely permanent. Furthermore, Departments should be helpful to MPs and peers, particulary where the fact or figure requested is contained in a much larger set of information.
7.38 If referring to websites, it is important to consider the implications. Departments are advised to ensure that any URL given in an answer connects directly to the information referred to (not a departmental homepage) and is working. Links provided should be available in perpetuity. Any information referred to in this way should be supplied to the Member in hard copy, and deposited in the library in accordance with relevant guidance. In short;
7.39 It is advised that the answer should give the Member the factual information requested (including supplying paper copies of the website pages), with an additional line in the answer indicating that the information is already made readily available. In the long term this may help to reduce the amount of questions seeking information that is already publicly available.
7.40 Similarly, where the information requested is available in a document that has already been placed in the Library it may not be appropriate to simply refer to the document. Departments are advised to copy the requested information from the main document, where this is appropriate, to assist MPs and peers. This is particularly helpful where a requested figure is contained as part of a much larger table.
7.41 Where an answer makes use of published material (e.g. statistics, economic data or quotations from reports) the source should be given, as appropriate, either in the text of the answer or as a footnote. Attached papers (for example, statistical tables) should be deposited in the Library. If reference is made to documents in a response, copies of these documents must also be placed in the Library.
7.42 If it is not possible to answer a named-day written Question in full on the specified date a holding reply must be given. (Holding replies cannot be given for ordinary written questions). An explanation of the delay has to be prepared together with a suitable form of words for a holding answer. This can be simply:
“I shall let the [Rt] hon. Member have a reply as soon as possible”
7.43 This holding reply is not usually printed in Hansard. The substantive answer is printed, when available, as a “pursuant reply”. A “pursuant reply” is also used where a substantive answer has already been given, but the Minister has undertaken to announce further details/results of a survey etc. at a later date. This reply is prefixed with [Holding answer x x x 20xx] and uses the formula:
“pursuant to his/her reply of (date) (Official Report........Vol.......Col......) gave the following information........”
The full text of the answer then follows.
‘I Will Write’ replies
7.44 An “I will write” reply is the answer provided by departments when they are unable to answer the question in the time required and intend to send the requested information by letter at a later date. This approach should only be used rarely, when there is a particular reason for delay. (This is different from a ‘holding reply’, which should be sent when it is not possible to answer a question on a named day, and when the intention is to send an answer on a later date.) The answer should take the form:
“I will write to the [Rt] hon. Member with the information requested. [If appropriate, reason for delay]”
7.45 The answer, in the form “I will write to the hon Member…”, is published in Hansard. Holding answers are not printed by Hansard. A copy of the subsequent substantive response should be sent to Hansard, to be printed with the written answers in the next edition.
7.46 If Ministers need to provide personal or confidential information, which is not appropriate for publication, Departments should make this clear in the answer, instead of using the standard “I will write” formula they should use the following “As my answer contains personal information, I will communicate privately with the hon. Member”. This will ensure that the answer is not recorded as an answer to which a substantive response is outstanding. In these circumstances, a copy of the letter that the Minister sends subsequently should not be sent to Hansard, the Library or the Table Office.
7.47 In 2004, following concerns raised regarding the number of ‘I will write’ replies to parliamentary questions, particularly at the ends of parliamentary sessions, the then Leader of the House (Peter Hain), introduced arrangements8 to reduce their numbers and improve transparency. When questions are tabled in the run-up to prorogation, Ministers should, of course, strive to answer them substantively before prorogation; but, if this is not possible, Ministers should – instead of issuing an “I will write” reply – answer the question substantively with the following form of words:
“It has not proved possible to respond to the Hon [or Rt Hon] Member in the time available before Prorogation”.
7.48 It will then be open to the Member concerned to re-table the question in the new session if they wish. This process should only be used for those questions tabled in the two weeks before prorogation to avoid accusations of misusing the process to ‘clear the decks’.
7.49 It is normal practice for a Department receiving a PQ relating entirely to the day-to-day operations of an Executive Agency to reply:
“This is a matter for.........., the Chief Executive of the.........Agency, who will write to the hon. Member.”
7.50 The subsequent letter from the Chief Executive should be sent to the official report for printing, unless it contains personal or confidential information. If the letter is longer than the Official Report would normally publish notification will be printed that the response is available in the library of the House. Ministers remain responsible for the answer in its entirety.
7.51 Since November 2007, it has also been possible for this approach to be taken with letters from the heads of NDPBs. In doing so, however, Ministers are accepting that they are taking responsibility for the answer and are accountable to Parliament for it. The decision is one for Ministers on a case-by-case basis.
7.52 When Questions down for written answer are answered together, each question is typed in full, in the order tabled, followed by the reply. There is no introductory sentence stating that they are being answered together. Questions from more than one MP may be grouped, but not questions from more than one Peer. A Commons question may not be grouped with a Lords question. A written question may not be grouped with a oral question.
7.53 The Freedom of Information Act was introduced in 2000. Cabinet Office Guidance to Officials gives relevant information on the relationship between FOI and parliamentary questions. There should be no inconsistencies between the provision of information in answers to PQs and information given under the Act. Ministers should be advised of any relevant FOI cases under consideration when answering PQs and it should be revealed if information being released is of a sort not normally disclosed. If information is not disclosed, or fully disclosed, the draft answer should make this clear and explain the reasons in terms similar to those in the FOI Act (without resorting to explicit reference to the Act itself). For example;
“The release of information would prejudice commercial interests”
7.54 PQs should be answered within the normal deadlines. Consideration of a parallel FOI request is not a reason to delay a PQ answer.
7.55 Background notes are prepared to accompany draft answers for oral and written Questions to assist Ministers. The information may include:
7.56 Use plain English. Replies should be concise and clear, phrased in a logical way. Use active verbs as opposed to passive ones. Avoid clichés and jargon and do not use technical terms unless absolutely necessary. Use abbreviations only after using the words or name in full.
7.57 Replies to PQs are given through the Speaker so MPs should be referred to in the third party. Additionally, MPs are not addressed by name in the House but by the constituency they represent. A full list of correct forms of address is as follows:
| MP in the same political party | My hon. Friend, the Member for (Constituency)(MP's name) |
|---|---|
| MP not in the same party | The hon. Member for (Constituency)(MP's name) |
| If the MP if a Privy Counsellor | My Rt hon. Friend/The Rt hon. Member for.. |
| If the MP is a QC | My hon. and learned Friend/The hon. and learned Member for.. |
| If a QC and Privy Counsellor | My Rt hon. and learned Friend/ The R hon. and learned Member for.. |
| Reference to Government Spokespersons in the Lords (or member of the same party) |
My noble Friend the.. |
| Other Peers | The noble Lord/Lady |
7.58 Hansard imposes other rules to facilitate printing of answers in the official report. For example, bullet points are not printed in the official report and therefore departments should ensure that ‘bulleted’ sections are lettered or numbered. Any tables supplied should be created in Word and formatted in Portrait style. Tables should not be imported from Excel or picture packages. Formatting should be kept to a minimum with no bold, underlining or italics. There should be a clear heading above the table showing what it represents and a comprehensive set of notes following. As indicated above the source of any document should also be included. The notes should make reference to any rounding figures and other important information. Figures which are rounded to the nearest hundred, thousand or million, do not need all the noughts but the interpretation should be included at the top of the relevant column. Where a table is longer than four pages then the Parliamentary Clerk should place a copy in the Library and this should be inserted into the PQ answer. Hansard may themselves decide to place a table in the Library if it is of considerable length. You should use the words:
“The information is in the table(s)”
7.59 Written answers to questions must be delivered to Members letter board first, with copies to the Library, the Upper Table Office9, Hansard and the Press Gallery. A copy of the PQ is put into the Member’s envelope together with a copy of any previous PQ and deposited paper which may be referred to in the reply. Where a reply states that a document is to be placed in the Library of the House this should be done in accordance with guidelines. Parliamentary Clerks are responsible for observing the proceedings of Parliament to ensure that any necessary business, including delivery of written answers, is transacted before the rise of the House, mindful that the House can rise early. Finally, all Parliamentary Units should check that their answers appear in the Official Report. Hansard are able to rectify occasions where answers have not appeared if given sufficiently early notice.
7.60 Where an inadvertent error in an answer is discovered it must be corrected. Ultimately, the final decision on which method of correction is appropriate is for the relevant Minister. However, corrections should be made in a way that is transparent and open, not only for the Member, but also for others, including the general public. This means that it will not normally be appropriate simply to write to the Member concerned and place a copy in the Library.
7.61 Since the start of the 2007-08 session a new ‘Ministerial Corrections’ section has been provided for in the official report. This is intended to allow corrections to inadvertent errors made by Ministers and other Members who provide information to the House in an official capacity. The new process is available for corrections only and "should not be an occasion to provide new information, however closely related to the original proceeding. Neither should it be used to rehearse arguments which may have given rise to the orginal error". The Leader of the House's Office has provided seperate detailed guidance on the use of this procedure. The advice of the Table Office may be sought on whether the substance and format of a proposed correction is appropriate for this procedure.
7.62 Oral Questions are answered on the floor of the House under Standing Order No.21 which sets out that questions will be taken in the first hour of business on each weekday except Friday. Each major Department is allocated a particular day of the week for answering oral Questions. The allocation is shown on the “Order of Questions” which is issued as soon as the dates of the next recess are known. The Departments normally have to answer oral Questions once every five weeks during the Session, except Oral Questions to the Prime Minister, which take place every week on Wednesdays for 30 minutes at 12 noon. The rota of questions is the responsibility of the business managers and is regularly reviewed, particularly after machinery of government changes.
7.63 Question Time starts just after 2.30pm on Monday and Tuesdays, 11.30am on Wednesdays and 10.30am on Thursdays. It ends at 3.30pm, 12.30pm or 11.30am irrespective of how many Questions on the Order Paper for that day have been reached. Smaller ‘Departments’ (e.g. Minister for Women and Equality, Solicitor General) answer in short slots during this one hour period. On Wednesdays, when the Prime Minister answers Questions, the time allotted to Departments is from just after 11.30am to 12 noon.
7.64 Parliamentary Clerks should beware that where two or more departments share a question time, it is possible for the Department answering first to be called back to fill available time if the department(s) answering questions after them do not run to the expected time.
7.65 The order in which questions appear on the order of business and are called is of great importance, as only those at the beginning of the list are guaranteed to be reached. The ballot, or shuffle, is a lottery blind to considerations of party, seniority, method of tabling, time of submission or the results of previous shuffles. Once the questions are shuffled they are numbered consecutively up to the quota for that time limit. Any questions not successful in the ballot are discarded and no further action is necessary on them. A separate ballot is held for those departments who also answer topical questions.
Diagram 4. Quota for oral questions
| Duration of ‘normal’ oral question time | Quota | Duration of topical questions | Quota |
|---|---|---|---|
| 45 minutes | 25 printed | 15 minutes | 10 printed |
| 38 minutes | 20 printed | 12 minutes | 10 printed |
| 35 minutes | 15 printed | 10 minutes or less | 8 printed |
| 30 minutes | 15 printed | - | - |
| 20 minutes | 15 printed | - | - |
| 15 minutes | 10 printed | - | - |
| 10 minutes or less | 8 printed | - | - |
7.66 The Speaker calls successively each Member in whose name a question appears on the Order Paper. The Member called rises and asks the question by referring to its number on the Order Paper. (The Member does not read out the text of the question since it is printed on the Order Paper and time is saved by calling the number only). If a Member is not present to call out the question number the question is treated as if it had been withdrawn. If, however, a group of related questions is taken together one oral reply is given to all the questions in that particular group as long as one of the Members is present when the question is called. If the question is not reached, the member receives a written reply.
7.67 After the Minister has read out the prepared answer, the Speaker allows the Member who asked the question, and normally other Members, from both sides of the House, to put supplementary (follow-up) questions to the Minister. The scope of supplementaries is limited only by the rule that they have to arise from the original question. At some point in the proceedings the Speaker will normally call a front bench opposition spokesman to put a supplementary. The Speaker will not call a Member’s PQ if he or she has already asked a supplementary; they will instead receive a written reply.
7.68 Supplementary questions are answered impromptu by the Minister on the basis of information provided by the department in notes for supplementaries. The number of supplementaries asked is entirely at the discretion of the Speaker.
7.69 Very similar or identical questions, particularly orals, are often put down by two or more Members. This occurs because Members wish to ask a Question about the same subject, or wish to try to ensure that a Question on the subject comes out in the shuffle. Where this happens the Questions may be grouped together with the Minister giving a single answer to all of them. This may benefit the Minister and save some time in the House. It is the Minister (advised where appropriate by his officials) who decides which questions will be taken together, and from how far down the list he will select questions for grouping, subject to the agreement of the Speaker. Advancing PQs too far down the list is not regarded as acceptable. For example, similar or identical questions may appear say as Nos. 2, 7, 11 and 24, but unless your department normally reaches 24 that should not be grouped with the other three. Instead the oral response to No. 24 would be:
“I refer the Hon. Member to the reply I gave some moments ago.”
7.70 The usual formula for grouped oral Questions is:
“I shall, with permission, Mr Speaker, answer this Question and Question(s) No(s) (...) together”.
The Minister then gives a single answer to all the questions in the group. Following the answer the Speaker usually calls first and successively for supplementaries those Members whose questions have been answered together. Early warning of any proposed grouping should be given to the Table Office that morning to check that the grouping is acceptable. Officials should remember that grouping answers increases the chances of those further down the list being reached and they will need to ensure that adequate briefing is provided for all answers that might be reached.
7.71 A written question may not be grouped with an oral Question. Additionally, oral Questions to the Prime Minister are not grouped for answer.
7.72 On 25 October 2007 the House agreed to a procedure to provide time for Members to ask “topical” oral questions in the last 10 or 15 minutes of some oral Question times from the beginning of the 2007-08 Session. The Modernisation Committee’s intention was to create the opportunity for “topical and spontaneous questions” on issues of the day selected by Members10. This process applies to all those departments who previously had oral questions times of 40 minutes or more, as set out below.
7.73 There are two ballots at 12.30 pm for oral questions to those departments answering topical questions; one for substantive oral questions, and one for the opportunity to ask a topical oral question. Members may enter and be successful in either ballot or both. When there is another question time on the same day, Members can also table one other substantive oral Question.
7.74 The arrangements for topical questions are broadly similar to those for PM’s engagements questions. The pro forma topical Question is “if s/he will make a statement on her/his Department’s responsibilities”. The Minister answers this question once at the start of the topical questions slot and then Members successful in the ballot, and others, are called by the Speaker to ask questions.
7.75 The initial answer to an Oral Question particularly should be brief. Three sentences should normally be sufficient. There is little benefit to Ministers in giving long answers as they know there will be related supplementaries that they will have to answer. The Speaker in any case is likely to halt a Minister who appears to be making a speech rather than simply answering the question. Remember also that an oral answer has to be given aloud. It is therefore important to ensure the tone is right and the content is easy to deliver.
7.76 Supplementary questions vary from the factual to the highly political in content, so that the notes for supplementaries have to anticipate every ramification of the original Question. While some questions are genuinely seeking action or information, others are designed to highlight the merits of an alternative policy or the perceived shortcomings of the Minister's Department. The task facing civil servants is to ‘get behind the Question’ and provide a range of brief subject headings and corresponding short speaking notes (often drafted in the first person) which the Minister can easily pick up and use to answer the supplementaries in the House. He or she may also reflect upon which other Members the Speaker may call for supplementaries and the type of point they may raise.
7.77 Departments must ensure they act sensitively to the transfer of an oral question to another department if that question would otherwise have been answered orally. Guidance given by the Leader of the House in response to a Parliamentary Question (16 Feb 2006)11 states that an ‘oral question(s) should be transferred within 24 hours of it appearing in the Notice Paper and not on the day for answer.’
7.78 A Minister may decide to defer answering an oral question until the end of Question Time. The agreement of the Leader of the House and Chief Whip is needed for this, following which the Speaker's Office must be notified. A Minister may also elect to give an oral answer at that time to any question for written answer, which stands on the Order Paper for that day. This is an exceptional procedure which should be discussed with the business managers and needs the agreement of the Speaker. This is done in cases where a question requires, or provides an opportunity for, a more extended answer, which might otherwise have taken the form of a Ministerial Statement.
7.79 Procedures for dealing with Lords' Questions follow a broadly similar pattern to those in the Commons, although there are differences in their form, and in the way in which they are answered. Overall fewer questions are tabled in the House of Lords than in the House of Commons.
7.80 Questions are handed in or sent to the Clerks in the Table Office (House of Lords), who advise Members on wording and admissibility. The practice of the House is that questions, whether oral or written, should be short, and framed so as to elicit information - statements of opinion are out of order, and statements of fact are included only so far as is necessary to elicit the desired information. Most questions tabled in the Lords are addressed to Her Majesty’s Government and not to any particular Minister or Department. However, certain questions may be addressed to the holders of specific official positions: those concerning procedure or the conduct of Government business in the House are addressed to the Leader of the House and those concerning the services and administration of the House to the Chairman of Committees (who is briefed by the Clerks).
7.81 Questions for Oral Answer, formally known as "Starred Questions", may be tabled not more than one calendar month, and not less than twenty-four hours, before the start of the sitting at which they are to be asked. This means that in theory a Question could appear for the first time on the Lords Order Paper, otherwise known as the “Minutes of Proceedings” on the day for answer. However, spaces on the Order Paper are allocated to Members on a first-come-first-served basis, so in practice a reasonable period of notice is usually given. The exception is for "topical questions", one of which is asked as a fourth oral question on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, for which only two working days' notice is given in the House of Lords business. No Member may have more than one oral question on the Order Paper at any one time, but topical questions, which are selected by ballot, do not count for this purpose. Each Member may ask up to four topical questions in any one parliamentary session.
7.82 Oral Questions are taken in the Lords on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. 30 minutes are allowed for the four oral questions asked each day:
| Monday | 14.35-15.05 |
| Tuesday | 14.35-15.15 |
| Wednesday | 15.05 -15.35 |
| Thursday | 11.05 -11.35 |
Oral questions can be asked on each of these sitting days - the maximum number for each day is 4.
7.83 Answers normally start with "My Lords". Ministers' initial answers should not exceed 75 words – where an answer contains material that is too lengthy or complicated to be given orally in the House, it may be published in Hansard. The notes for supplementaries and the background note have to be sufficiently informative to enable the Minister answering for the Government to deal in a fair measure of detail with a wider range of supplementary questions than usually occur in the Commons. They should also take account of the fact that the Lords Minister may be less familiar with the subject matter as they cover wider remits than their counterparts.
7.84 At Question Time, each Peer who has put down an oral Question rises when called upon by the Clerk and begs leave of the House to ask the Question standing in his or her name on the Order Paper. There is no equivalent in the Lords of the Commons' practice whereby an oral Question receives a written reply if it is not reached or called. About eight minutes are allowed for each question, and when this time is up the Leader of the House will, if necessary, intervene to ensure that all questions are called within the 30 minute time-limit.
7.85 Private Notice Questions (PNQs) give Peers the opportunity to raise urgent matters on any sitting day. A PNQ should be submitted to the Lords by 12 noon on the day on which it is proposed to ask it, or by 10 am on days where the House sits before 1 p.m. The decision on whether the question is sufficiently urgent to require an immediate reply rests in the first place with the Lord Speaker, though it is open to any Peer whose request has been turned down to challenge the Lord Speaker’s preliminary decision on the floor of the House. The final decision rests with the general sense of the House. The Government Whips Office will notify the Parliamentary Branch of any PNQ requests which are submitted to the Lord Speaker. The Department must provide the Lord Speaker with a short brief on the background to the question, and the Government’s assessment of its urgency. This briefing will often have to be supplied, via the Whips Office, at very short notice.
7.86 PNQs are taken immediately after Oral Questions, and procedures follow the same rules. Supplementary questions may be asked, and should be short and confined to not more than two points. Proceedings on a PNQ are expected to take not more than ten minutes in total. In certain circumstances it may be more appropriate for the Government to make a statement on the matter a PNQ is intended to raise.
7.87 Peers may table up to six Written Questions on each sitting day. The Questions are, like Oral Questions, handed in or sent to the Clerks in the Table Office. The Clerks then allocate each question to a Department. When the House rises the questions tabled on that day are emailed to Parliamentary Clerks in all Departments. Where a Department believes that a question has been wrongly allocated to it, it has until the end of the next working day to agree a transfer to another Department and to inform the Office of the Leader of the House of Lords of this transfer.
7.88 In February 2009, the Government agreed to a request from Peers to send them an electronic version of the answer, in addition to the hard copy, when such a request is made to the Table Office.
7.89 Every effort must be made to ensure that a reply to a written Question appears in Hansard within five working days of the date on which the Question is tabled, although the formal time-limit for answering questions is fourteen days. Where the answer is very long a copy may be placed in the Library of the House rather than printed in Hansard.
7.90 A Question for Short Debate (QSD) is a question that can be debated. It is thus, in effect, more like a Commons 'Adjournment Debate' than a Parliamentary Question. QSDs are put down for a specific date - like an Oral Question - but are not prefixed on the Order Paper by an asterisk. They may be taken during the 'dinner break', in which case they are time-limited to one hour, starting at around 7.30 p.m., or the end of business, in which case the time-limit is one and a half hours, starting whenever other business has been concluded. 'Dinner break' questions are marked on the Order Paper with a double dagger. Peers tabling QSDs normally consult the Government Whips' Office in the Lords to agree a suitable date.
7.91 A QSD entitles the Peer asking the Question to speak on the Question at length; a debate then ensues, which can include speeches from the Opposition and Liberal Democrat front benches, and at the end the Government Minister replies. The Peer asking the Question has no right of reply and there is no division, since there is no motion before the House. The Questioner is allotted ten minutes, the Minister twelve minutes, and the remaining time is shared among the other speakers. The reply to a QSD is drafted in the form of a draft speech or speaking notes anticipating points the Peer asking the Question is expected to raise. Where other Peers indicate they will also be speaking in the debate and the points that they intend to make are known, the answers to them are included in the speech or speaking notes. Supplementary notes, in the form of short passages that can be incorporated into a speech, are also provided on other points, which are less likely to come up and are not already covered.
7.92 The minimum period of notice of a question may not be appropriate in the case of an emergency or important unexpected development. In such circumstances, any Member may apply to the Speaker for permission to ask an Urgent Question of the responsible Minister. Thus, as expressed in Standing Order No 21 (2), an 'urgent question' is a Question which has not appeared on the Order Paper but which in the Speaker's opinion is of an urgent character relating to either matters of public importance or to the arrangement of business. In practice UQs invariably take the form of a question asking a minister to ‘make a statement’ on whatever matter has arisen. Urgent Questions can be asked of any Department on any sitting day, except for the first sitting day of a new session. This process was known as a Private Notice Question prior to the 2002-03 session.
7.93 In order to ask an Urgent Question the Member must apply to the Speaker before noon on Mondays and Tuesdays, 10.30 on Wednesdays, 9.30 on Thursdays and 10.00am on Fridays. A member may submit for more than one urgent question in any one day but may not ask more than one. Members should not apply for both an urgent question and an emergency debate under Standing Order No.24 on the same subject on the same day. The Speaker's Office will then request briefing from the relevant government department. A Table Office Clerk will call to check that the request for briefing has been received.
7.94 The Speaker subsequently holds a business meeting which determines if any Urgent Questions should be allowed. The Speaker's decision, which is final, is then immediately conveyed to the Department. Members are informed of a successful application via the annunciators and a notice is put up in Members’ Lobby. No reasons for the decision are given either to Members or to a Department.
7.95 In coming to a decision, the Speaker has to keep in mind the fact that any Urgent Questions allowed will be answered immediately after normal Question Time, or at 11.00 on Fridays. They thus occupy a privileged position and also take time out of the main business for that day. Applications for Urgent Questions are confidential and no public reference should be made to any application, which has been turned down.
7.96 The Member concerned asks the Urgent Question by reading out the text of the Question. It is for the Government to decide which Minister answers the Urgent Question, although it should normally be the Secretary of State. When the Minister has read out the prepared answer, the Speaker allows supplementary Questions, as with normal oral PQs. On average 30-40 minutes is allowed for an Urgent Question. If requested by the opposition in the House of Lords, an Urgent Question is repeated there in the form of a statement (i.e. taking 45 minutes, rather than ten).
7.97 When an application for an urgent question is made to the Speaker’s office, the Parliamentary Clerk is notified so that a background note can be provided to inform the Speaker’s decision. Parliamentary Clerks may only hear from the Speaker’s office 20 minutes before his daily meeting at which a decision is made so a background note will need to be prepared immediately and sent to the Speaker’s office. A template [Word Document] is provided for this purpose.
7.98 In preparing the background note, Departments should not attempt to argue that the question is not urgent - that is for the Speaker to decide – but may point out relevant facts which may assist in making that judgement. It is imperative that briefing is provided as soon as possible and in good time before the start of the Speakers meeting to consider business of the day. Any briefing provided late may not be considered and the opportunity to influence the decision will be lost. On occasion the brief may have to be conveyed over the phone direct to the Speaker’s Office.
7.99 The Parliamentary Clerk will need to alert the Secretary of State, other Ministers, SpAds and appropriate officials who need to be prepared in case the question is allowed. Ministers and officials will also need to start thinking about the speech and briefing if the question was to go ahead.
7.100 In certain circumstances, such as when an application for an urgent question has been prompted by a new development or media article, the Secretary of State may be considering to make an oral statement. If this is the case, the Business Managers should be consulted immediately.
7.101 It is usually the case that an urgent question, if allowed, is answered by the Secretary of State. If this is not possible, for example if s/he is away from London, another Minister may answer.
7.102 On sitting Fridays, it is important that each Department has a duty Minister available at the House in case an urgent question arises.
7.103 The Speaker’s office will inform the Parliamentary Clerk when a decision has been made on whether or not the urgent question is allowed.
7.104 If the question is not allowed, no further action is taken and it is important that no public reference is made to the application having been made.
7.105 If the question is allowed, the draft reply, supplementary and background notes should be prepared as for the reply to an oral question. The Speaker may allow supplementary questions to run for as long as 40 minutes, and notes for supplementaries should be as comprehensive as possible.
7.106 Standing Order No.21 (2) also allows for the weekly business question to be asked of the Leader of the House of Commons. A business question is asked, usually by the shadow Leader of the House, after all other Urgent Questions have been answered.
7.107 Since January 2003 there has been provision for cross-cutting questions sessions in the Westminster Hall debating chamber under Standing Order No.10(3). MPs may ask oral Questions to a group of Ministers from different departments on a chosen cross-cutting issue. Questions are tabled in the usual way and a shuffle is held five days before the session. Up to twelve Questions appear on the Order Paper. The procedures are roughly similar to those for oral Questions in the House of Commons. It is for the ministerial team to decide which Minister answers which question.
7.108 Standing Orders Nos. 94, 103 and 110 provide for oral questions to be taken at the commencement of meetings of the above Grand Committees respectively. These last for between 30 and 45 minutes. Similarly to oral questions in the House of Commons those questions not reached orally are printed with the committees' debates for that day.
1. Ministerial Code
2. www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/propriety_and_ethics/civil_service/pq_guidance.aspx
3. For further information on the sub-judice rule see the House of Commons Standard Note SN/PC/1141 www.parliament.uk/commons/lib/research/notes/snpc-01141.pdf (July 2007) See also the Resolution of the House of 15 November 2001 published in the latest edition of standing Orders (public business)
4. If a member is appointed to a Parliamentary Private Secretary post their question will not be automatically removed. However as the ministerial code states that they should not put questions on matter affecting their department, they may choose to remove it themselves.
5. Official Report Vol 442, Col: 2379.
6. WMS, 20 January 2010, Vol 504 Col 15WS
7. Business of the House and its Committees – a short guide (July 2008)
8. Written Ministerial Statement 21 July 2004, Official Report, vol 424, col 35WS
9. Oral Questions 23 April 2009, Official Report, vol 291, col 849w
10. Select Committee on Modernisation of the House of Commons, First Report of 2006-07, Revitalising the Chamber: the role of the back bench Member (HC 337), paragraphs 51-4.
11. Official Report Vol.442 Column 2378W
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