Leader of the House

As Leader of the House of Commons (and Chair of the Parliamentary Business and Legislation Committee), I meet regularly with Cabinet colleagues to discuss legislation and other matters. Recently announced changes to PIP eligibility will be brought forward in primary legislation in due course.

The Government’s policy on answers to Written Parliamentary Questions and Questions for Written Answer is set out in the Guide to Parliamentary Work (available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guide-to-parliamentary-work). The guidance contains no reference to Environmental Information Regulation requests. The Information Commissioner's Office provides guidance and resources for public authorities and the public about the Freedom of Information Act and the Environment Information Regulations, available online at ico.org.uk.

The Office of the Leader of the House of Commons is part of the Cabinet Office. I refer the hon. Member to the response provided by the Cabinet Office (35133).

The Office of the Leader of the House of Commons currently operates three social media accounts, with no subscription or advertisement cost.

The Office of the Leader of the House of Commons is part of the Cabinet Office. I refer the hon. Member to the response provided by the Cabinet Office (33179).

Parliament has a right to hold Ministers to account. I have written to all members of Cabinet to remind Ministers of their responsibilities to provide helpful and timely responses to Members' PQs.

The Procedure Committee monitors individual department’s PQ performance and it recently published a report into performance in the 2023–24 Session (available at: https://committees.parliament.uk/work/8673/written-parliamentary-questions-departmental-performance-in-session-202324/publications/). I look forward to working with the Committee on this and other matters.

I encourage hon. Members to raise any specific issues they may have with myself and my office.

This information is not held centrally. It is for Government Ministers to determine when information is shared on Privy Council Terms, on a case by case basis, and in a manner appropriate and proportionate to the circumstances.

While the Government have a neutral position on the principles of the Bill, we have a responsibility to ensure that any Bill passed by the House is workable and operable. The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill was passed by the House at Second Reading, and the Government has therefore been in discussion with the Member in charge about the Bill’s deliverability and the overall coherence of the statute book.

The Member in charge has tabled amendments based on these discussions. It is for the Committee to decide whether to accept each amendment. As with any Public Bill Committee, any Member can table amendments to the Bill during the Committee’s consideration, and Members not appointed to the Committee are free to observe the Committee’s proceedings (although only Members of the Committee can speak or move tabled amendments). Following the Committee stage, the whole House will have a further opportunity to scrutinise the Bill at Report stage.

It is a long-established precedent that internal government correspondence is not normally shared publicly.

It is a long-established precedent that internal government correspondence is not normally shared publicly.

It is important that Members receive full and helpful responses to parliamentary questions. As set out in the Guide to Parliamentary Work (available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guide-to-parliamentary-work), when referring to public documents departments should “include the relevant extracts in your written response as well as the relevant hyperlink”.

We believe that publishing the relevant extract and link is the most effective and appropriate way to make such information available.

It is important that Members receive full and helpful responses to parliamentary questions.

The Guide to Parliamentary Work (available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guide-to-parliamentary-work), published by my office, states that “if referring to documents in the public domain, you should include the relevant extracts in your written response as well as the relevant hyperlink”.

I take these matters seriously and have raised this particular question with the Cabinet Office to ensure the link is sent to the Hon. Members for Bridlington and The Wolds and for Brentwood and Ongar at the earliest opportunity.

The Ministerial Code gives guidance to Ministers on their responsibilities. Section 1.6(a) states that “Ministers have a duty to Parliament to account, and be held to account, for the policies, decisions and actions of their departments and agencies”. It is expected that ministers from sponsoring departments can answer questions on behalf of non-ministerial departments they sponsor. This is true for both oral and written Parliamentary Questions.

Additional guidance on answering Parliamentary Questions is available to departments in the Guide to Parliamentary Work.

I have written to all Members of Cabinet to remind departments and Ministers about the importance of providing full and timely responses to parliamentary questions.

The government's position regarding the relationship between the treatment of requests for information through parliamentary questions and the Freedom of Information Act 2000 is unchanged. The Guide to Parliamentary Work (available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guide-to-parliamentary-work), published by my office, states that “if information would be released under FOI, it would also be released in response to a WPQ”.

The Procedure Committee monitors departmental PQ performance and their sessional reporting continues to be an effective tool.

The information requested is not held. The cost to the public purse of answering written PQs depends on numerous factors, including the size of parliamentary teams, volumes of parliamentary questions submitted, and the complexity of the question asked (and required policy work to answer it), amongst other factors.

The Cabinet Office’s Guide to Parliamentary Work (available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guide-to-parliamentary-work) sets out: “There is an advisory cost limit known as the disproportionate cost threshold which is the level above which departments can decide not to answer a written question. The current disproportionate cost threshold is £850.”

The Government is committed to ensuring Parliament has the information it needs to hold the Government to account and to understand the impact of legislation. When a bill is published the Explanatory Notes include information regarding any financial implications.

I have written to all members of Cabinet regarding their ministerial responsibilities to Parliament. Best practice guidance is also provided to departments through the Cabinet Office Guide to Making Legislation, available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guide-to-making-legislation.

Published impact assessments, including their date of publication, are available on the Parliament website (https://bills.parliament.uk/).

Parliament has a right to hold Ministers to account. I have written to all members of Cabinet to remind Ministers of their responsibilities to provide helpful and timely responses to Members' PQs.

The Procedure Committee regularly monitors individual department’s PQ performance, and recently published a report on department’s performance in the 2023-24 session (available at: https://committees.parliament.uk/committee/126/procedure-committee/publications/). I look forward to working with the Committee on this and other matters.

I would encourage hon. Members to raise any specific issues they may have with myself and my office.

As the Hon. Member will know from my correspondence with her, following the Business Question on the 12th December 2024, I wrote to the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions on the 20th December 2024 and asked that this matter be looked into.

I understand that the Hon. Member has now received an update from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government on this matter.

Parliament has a right to hold Ministers to account. I have written to all members of Cabinet to remind Ministers of their responsibilities to provide helpful and timely responses to Members' PQs.

As a member of the Procedure Committee, the hon. Member will be aware that the Committee has a keen interest in the timeliness and quality of PQ responses, and will have seen the recent government response to the predecessor Committee’s report on the 2022-23 session (available at: https://committees.parliament.uk/publications/45585/documents/225592/default/). I look forward to working with the hon. Member and the Committee on this important matter.

As I have previously said, I encourage hon. Members to raise any specific issues they may have with myself and my office.

The Guide to Making Legislation will be updated shortly and will include references to environmental principles. Leading up to the commencement of the statutory duties contained within the Environment Act 2021, guidance was circulated to all Whitehall departments. This guidance related to both sections 19 and 20 of that Act.

Parliament has a right to hold Ministers to account. We recognise there is room for improvement upon the record of the previous government, and we are committed to doing things differently. As Leader of the House, I have written to all members of Cabinet to remind Ministers of their responsibilities to provide helpful and timely responses to Members' PQs and correspondence.

This Government has already taken steps to strengthen its approach to correspondence, with a Ministerial champion for correspondence in each department. Data on each Government department's correspondence performance in 2024 will be published on GOV.UK in the usual way (available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/data-on-responses-to-correspondence-from-mps-and-peers).

As a member of the Procedure Committee, the hon. Member will be aware that the Committee monitors individual department’s PQ performance and that it recently launched an inquiry into performance in the 2023–24 Session. I look forward to working with the Committee on this and other matters.

I would encourage hon. Members to raise any specific issues they may have with myself and my office.

As the Hon. Member will know from my correspondence with him, following the Business Question on the 17th October 2024, I wrote to the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care on the 25th October and asked that the House be provided with an update on the Cass Review. I have raised this matter with the Department of Health and Social Care, and the Secretary of State is now actively considering the timing of this, such that it can be of most use to the House.

Following the Business Question on the 10th October 2024, I wrote to the Cabinet Office and my office further contacted the Home Office to raise this matter. Where Members raise issues with Ministers, it is important that they receive full and timely responses. I understand that the Home Office has now responded to the Hon. Member.

The rules governing the receipt of benefits by members are a matter for the House of Commons. The Commons ‘Code of Conduct’, together with ‘The Guide to the Rules’, contain specific provisions regarding the registration of interests as well as gifts and benefits received from sources outside of the UK. Both of these can be found on the parliament website (available at: https://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/commons/hoc-code-of-conduct/). Any alleged breaches of these rules are investigated by the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards with the oversight of the House's Committee on Standards.

In addition, there are parliamentary rules which require All-Party Parliamentary Groups (APPGs) to refrain from accepting secretariats provided by foreign governments. These can be found within the ‘Guide to the Rules on APPGs’ on the parliament website (available at: https://www.parliament.uk/about/mps-and-lords/members/apg/rules-on-appgs/).

Separately, the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 contains clear rules on donations, with members obliged to carry out permissibility checks on the donations they receive and report to the Electoral Commission eligible donations they receive in connection with their political activities.

These mechanisms ensure transparency is at the centre of the parliamentary standards system and reduce the possibility of undue foreign influence in our democratic institutions.

Data on response times to written parliamentary questions (PQs) is held by the House, not the government. PQs are an important part of the scrutiny of government and we are committed to ensuring that Members receive full and timely responses. In May 2024, the Procedure Committee published its report regarding Departmental performance in responding to Written Parliamentary Questions (PQs) in the 2022-23 Parliamentary Session (available at:
https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm5804/cmselect/cmproced/676/report.html). The government has recently shared its response with the Committee and recognised that there is room for improvement upon the record of the previous government. I have written to all Members of Cabinet to ask that departments and Ministers consider how performance can be improved in this Parliament.

The Procedure Committee monitors departmental PQ performance and their sessional reporting continues to be an effective tool. I look forward to working with the Committee on this.

The information requested is not held by the government. It is a matter for individual departments to determine how to respond to parliamentary questions from Members. However, the government's position regarding the relationship between the treatment of requests for information through parliamentary questions and the Freedom of Information Act 2000 is unchanged. The Guide to Parliamentary Work (available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guide-to-parliamentary-work), published by my office, states that “if information would be released under FOI, it would also be released in response to a WPQ”. I have written to all Members of Cabinet to remind departments and Ministers about the importance of providing full and timely responses to parliamentary questions.

The Procedure Committee monitors departmental PQ performance and their sessional reporting continues to be an effective tool. I look forward to working with the Committee on this.

The use of the Chamber by the UK Youth Parliament requires the agreement of the House of Commons. I would be happy to bring forward a motion to facilitate this in due course.

The Government is taking the necessary time to properly review and consider the Ombudsman's report, given the significance and complexity of the issue. Once the Government has outlined its approach, opportunities for the House to debate this matter would be considered in the usual way.

The Office of the Leader of the House of Commons is part of the Cabinet Office. I refer the hon. member to the response to be provided by the Cabinet Office (3029).

I have not made any statutory or non-statutory direct ministerial appointments since being appointed as Leader of the House of Commons.

Short Money is allocated on the basis of the number of seats won by each opposition party at the previous general election. The House of Commons Members Estimate Committee is responsible for modifying the provisions of the Resolutions relating to Short money as it considers “necessary or desirable in the interests of clarity, consistency, accountability and effective administration, and conformity with current circumstances” (Standing Order No. 152D (3)(c)) .

We should acknowledge that public money underpins the political system in respect of the Opposition as well as the Government, but we must always be conscious of the cost to the taxpayer. Further consideration of this policy is rightly a matter for the House.

The Restoration and Renewal Programme is a matter for Parliament. The Parliamentary Client Board agreed the strategic direction of the Programme in February and expect costed proposals for three options (including full decant, continued presence and enhanced maintenance and improvement) to be put to members in 2025, enabling the Programme to progress.

As Leader of the House I am committed to providing time in the Chamber to the Backbench Business Committee in line with the requirements of Standing Orders and I would encourage the Hon. Member to apply for such a debate through the Committee on this occasion. The Hon. Member will appreciate that there is a significant amount of legislation planned in this session and there is, as always, pressure on the Government’s timetable.

The regulation of All-Party Parliamentary Groups (APPGs) is a matter for Parliament. The Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards is responsible for monitoring the Register for APPGs and may investigate alleged breaches of the rules.

The Office of the Leader of the House of Commons is a business unit of the Cabinet Office and, as such, its administrative costs are part of the Cabinet Office’s wider administrative costs.

Information for 2022-23 can be found in the Cabinet Office Annual Report and Accounts 2022-23 (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/cabinet-office-annual-report-and-accounts-2022-23), copies of which are available in the Libraries of the House.

Information for the last financial year will be published in the Cabinet Office Annual Report and Accounts 2023-24 in due course.

The Office of the Leader of the House of Commons is a business unit of the Cabinet Office and, as such, its administrative costs are part of the Cabinet Office’s wider administrative costs.

Information for 2022-23 can be found in the Cabinet Office Annual Report and Accounts 2022-23 (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/cabinet-office-annual-report-and-accounts-2022-23), copies of which are available in the Libraries of the House.

Information for the last financial year will be published in the Cabinet Office Annual Report and Accounts 2023-24 in due course.

The Privy Council Office is part of the Cabinet Office. Some of the information requested is held centrally.

As far as data is centrally held, I refer the hon. Member to the Civil Service statistics for the Cabinet Office available at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/civil-service-statistics and https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/publicsectorpersonnel/datasets/civilservicestatistics

The Office of the Leader of the House of Commons is part of the Cabinet Office. Some of the information requested is held centrally.

As far as data is centrally held, I refer the hon. Member to the Civil Service statistics for the Cabinet Office available at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/civil-service-statistics and https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/publicsectorpersonnel/datasets/civilservicestatistics

This information is not held centrally. Post-legislative scrutiny memoranda have been published on GOV.UK where bills have undergone the process. While all bills that have reached Royal Assent are eligible for post-legislative scrutiny after they are enacted, it can be agreed between the department and the relevant Commons departmental select committee that a memorandum is not required.

The Government submitted its response to the Procedure Committee’s report on Commons scrutiny of Secretaries of State in the House of Lords on Tuesday 26th March 2024.

As Leader of the House of Commons, I meet regularly with Cabinet colleagues to discuss issues across my portfolio and will continue to do so. Correspondence between the Government and the Select Committees of both Houses is published on parliament.uk.

The Government submitted its response to the Procedure Committee’s report on Commons scrutiny of Secretaries of State in the House of Lords on Tuesday 26th March 2024.

As Leader of the House of Commons, I meet regularly with Cabinet colleagues to discuss issues across my portfolio and will continue to do so. Correspondence between the Government and the Select Committees of both Houses is published on parliament.uk.

The Office of the Parliamentary Counsel’s drafting guidance was published on GOV.UK on 4th April 2024 (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/drafting-bills-for-parliament) and has also been deposited in the libraries of both Houses.

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.

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.”

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.