Leader of the House

During the height of the pandemic, departments were under significant pressure when replying to written questions and correspondence and I had some sympathy with departments. Nevertheless, members must receive full and timely responses when they request information. I continue to raise the hon. members specific questions with the Department for Health and Social Care and have impressed upon it the need to answer these questions as a matter of urgency.

No. The Government firmly believes that our constituents are best served when Parliament meets physically to the fullest extent possible. The cost associated with virtual participation is not a matter for the Government but one for the House.

I refer the hon. gentleman to my response during business questions on 28 January (Official Report, col. 570). It is vital that the Government sets out its position on motions tabled by the opposition. In my view that is best done during the debate, in particular in the Minister’s closing remarks that respond to the points that have been raised. The Government will always listen carefully to the views of the House and will continue to make regular oral or written statements to announce policy developments, provide updates and respond to events.

I refer the hon. member to my previous answer (133774), it is the Government’s view that the current arrangements for proxy voting are a better alternative to a system of remote voting. Details regarding the operation and use of the electronic voting system is not a matter for the Government but one for the House.

I have regular meetings with the Leader of the House of Lords. However, what is considered suitable for the House of Lords is not always suitable for the House of Commons and as I have said before, it is essential to strike the balance between facilitating virtual participation and allowing scrutiny and legislation to continue.

This information is not held by the Office of the Leader of the House of Commons. The Procedure Committee routinely publishes information regarding the performance of departments in answering written questions following the end of each parliamentary session, the last of which was published on 9 October 2020 for the 2017-19 and 2019 sessions. This is available at: https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm5801/cmselect/cmproced/790/79002.htm

I have written to all members of the Cabinet to remind them of the importance of timely and helpful responses to written questions. I encourage members who get an unsatisfactory or late response to write to me and I will take this up on their behalf.

On 13 January, the House agreed a motion to suspend sittings in Westminster Hall. I refer the Hon. lady to my words during the debate on the question of virtual participation in Westminster Hall.

It is the Government’s view that the current arrangements for proxy voting are working well and are a better alternative to remote voting. Details of all proxy votes are readily available through the House service to all members and the public. Proxy voting has significantly reduced the overall number of people who are required to vote in person in the division lobbies and it is also flexible as members can choose their own proxy, irrespective of party. This strikes the right balance between ensuring a robust form of physical voting, which is not dependent on technology and individual members’ wifi connections, while ensuring that very few members have to vote in person, thus ensuring safety.

It is vital that members' votes are cast in accordance with their individual will and, as set out in the proxy voting scheme agreed by the House, members who are eligible to vote by proxy must agree with the member nominated as their proxy when the proxy vote will be cast and how it will be exercised. The member designated as a proxy is expected to act in strict accordance with the instruction given by the absent member, ensuring the voting decisions of backbench members are upheld.

The Government has taken a number of actions to ensure that MPs can work from home more readily where possible. Measures are in place in both Houses, including virtual participation in all Chamber proceedings and as we have said throughout the pandemic, the Government continues to keep the approach in Parliament under review.

The Government guidance is clear that you can continue to travel into or out of Local COVID Alert Level: Very High areas, if you need to for work, school, or caring responsibilities, or where doing so is necessary as part of a longer journey. It is the Government’s view that we best serve our constituents when we are in Westminster, carrying out our essential functions. The House authorities have put in place robust and effective measures to ensure that the House of Commons is a covid-secure workplace.

The Government is sympathetic to those Members who are currently unable to participate in some aspects of our proceeding and has worked hard to mitigate that, including a wide scale roll out of proxy voting and providing for remote participation in scrutiny proceedings. The Government also brought forward a motion to enable those Members who are clinically extremely vulnerable to contribute virtually in Chamber debates and it was unfortunate that this was talked out so the House did not make a decision. I will continue to engage with Members on how we best strike the balance between facilitating virtual participation and allowing scrutiny and legislation to continue. As I have always said, the Government continues to keep this matter under review.

The Office of the Leader of the House of Commons is part of the Cabinet Office. I refer the hon. member to the response from the Cabinet Office (124846).

I have regular discussions with members of the Cabinet and have reminded all departments of the importance of full and timely responses to Parliamentary questions. I have raised the hon. member’s specific questions with the Department for Health and Social Care and have been assured answers will be provided as soon as possible.

The Department of Health and Social Care responded to an urgent question on Thursday 19 November 2020 in relation to its performance in answering written questions from right hon. and hon. Members.

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 his question to the Cabinet Office (121122).

The Government guidance is clear that you should continue to travel for work where it is not possible to do so from home. It is the Government’s strong view that Parliament best serves the UK public when MPs are present in Westminster, carrying out their essential functions. We have ensured that Members who cannot be here for a range of reasons can vote by proxy and participate in interrogative proceedings. Members’ travel arrangements and public transport do not fall under the Leader of the House’s portfolio of responsibilities but all Members must wear face coverings where mandated on public transport and I would encourage all to follow the Government’s guidance on this and other measures such as social distancing.

We have ensured that people who cannot be here for a range of reasons can vote by proxy and participate in interrogative proceedings. The Government has brought forward a motion to allow additional virtual participation for debates in the Chamber for any member who has been classed as clinically extremely vulnerable. The change is in line with the Government advice to the whole country that the clinically extremely vulnerable should currently not go into work.

I will continue to engage with Members on how we best strike the balance between facilitating virtual participation and allowing scrutiny and legislation to continue. As I have always said, we continue to keep this matter under review.

The Committee on Standards published its report on Confidentiality in the House’s standards system in June and recommended that “the Commissioner should be given authority to publish a list of ongoing non-ICGS investigations and to confirm or deny whether a non-ICGS matter is being looked into, as she did before 19 July 2018.” The Government is continuing discussions with the Committee ahead of bringing forward a motion to implement the Committee’s recommendations.

Procurement guidelines are a matter for the Cabinet Office.

The UK’s exit from the EU offers us a huge opportunity to reform public procurement so that it better meets the needs of the country. Following extensive engagement, the Government has developed a package of proposals to reform the UK's procurement regulations. Our aim is to create simpler, less bureaucratic processes for our businesses, and better commercial outcomes for our public bodies; all while continuing to comply with our international obligations. We plan to publish our proposals soon and bring forward legislation when Parliamentary time allows.

I refer the hon. Member to the response I gave to an urgent question on Monday 16 November 2020, available at: https://hansard.parliament.uk/commons/2020-11-16/debates/5A282C48-FAE0-4214-8B3E-EE545E2C6DF7/ParticipationInDebates

It is the Government’s view that we best serve our constituents when we are here in Westminster, carrying out our essential functions. At a time when the nation is dealing with the widespread impacts of coronavirus, this work could not be more important. The House authorities have worked hard to put in place robust and effective measures to ensure that the House of Commons is a covid-secure workplace and all Members should follow the government’s guidance when travelling to Parliament.

In October, the House took the decision to extend the current arrangements for virtual participation to March 2021 and ensured that people who cannot be here for a range of reasons can vote by proxy and participate in interrogative proceedings. This was agreed without debate and without division. The hon. Member asks specifically about Westminster Hall and remote voting. Technical limitations meant it was only possible to resume business in Westminster Hall last month. However, the Government's understanding is that, owing to House capacity constraints, it is not currently possible to extend Westminster Hall debates to Members participating virtually. On remote voting, in the context of a physical return of Parliament, not returning to physical voting would be a significant anomaly and I welcome the House’s agreement to the new voting system, which is an effective way of managing safe physical voting.

The Government is sympathetic to those Members who are currently unable to participate in some aspects of our proceedings. However, the Government has done everything it can to mitigate that, including a wide scale roll out of proxy voting and providing for remote participation in scrutiny proceedings, including select committees. In addition, I am working with the House authorities to see how we can support additional virtual participation in the Commons for those who are clinically extremely vulnerable.

I refer the hon. member to the answer I gave to his earlier written question (105448).

It is the Government’s view that we best serve our constituents when we are here in Westminster, carrying out our essential functions, as we have been throughout the pandemic. Covid Alert Level - High includes a number of additional restrictions to limit social contact to help lessen the spread of the virus; it does not seek to close workplaces in general and people may still travel for work purposes. Parliament is a place of work and an institution that performs an essential constitutional role, making and changing legislation, debating key issues and scrutinising the broader work of Government. A return to hybrid proceedings would mean that we would necessarily need to make difficult decisions to limit what the House of Commons can do.

The Government is sympathetic to those members who are currently unable to participate in some aspects of our proceedings. However, the Government has done everything it can to mitigate that, including a wide scale roll out of proxy voting and providing for remote participation in scrutiny proceedings, including select committees.

The House authorities have worked hard to put in place robust and effective measures to ensure that the House of Commons is a covid-secure workplace.

The Government guidance is clear that you can continue to travel into or out of Local COVID Alert Level: Very High and High areas, if you need to for work, school, or caring responsibilities, or where doing so is necessary as part of a longer journey. This guidance applies equally to Members of Parliament whose constituencies are in High and Very High Alert Level areas and to Members of the House of Lords. Similarly, guidance issued by the Scottish and Welsh Governments and Northern Ireland Executive also allows for travel for work purposes.

All Members must wear face coverings where mandated on public transport and I would encourage all to follow the government’s guidance on this and other measures such as social distancing.

The Government attaches great importance to the effective and timely handling of correspondence and written questions. Some departments are seeing a significant increase in correspondence during the pandemic but it is vital that members are able to ask questions of departments on behalf of constituents with confidence that they will receive a timely and useful response. I have written to all members of Cabinet to remind them of the importance of this.

My Hon Friend will appreciate that there are a number of competing demands for time in the House of Commons chamber. This includes ensuring adequate time for scrutiny of the government's legislative programme and meeting the standing order requirements to provide opposition and backbench time. While I am not in a position to commit to an annual debate on the Council of Europe, this is the type of subject matter for debate that my Hon Friend may wish to take up with the Backbench Business Committee.

Since 1 March 2020, and as of Monday 20 July, the Government has laid 127 statutory instruments in response to the Coronavirus pandemic. This has enabled the Government to swiftly put in place the legislation needed and we will continue to bring forward further SIs for Parliament to consider, as required. The table below provides a list of each SI, outlining the powers it was made under; the date it was laid before Parliament; the date the SI came into force; and, where applicable, the date it was approved by Parliament.

The Government continues to make every effort to ensure that announcements are made in good time ahead of the legislation being brought forward, while balancing the need for urgent action to deal with the pandemic.

Table of Statutory Instruments laid since 1 March 2020

We remain committed to full transparency in our aid spending and there will continue to be parliamentary and independent scrutiny of the aid budget. The form this takes following the merger of the Department for International Development and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office will be set out in due course. In reference to a cross departmental Select Committee, I refer the Hon. member to my previous response to the Member for Brighton, Kemptown on a similar subject (59864).

The Government is clear that the House Authorities must continue to ensure that the Estate is safe and that we must all continue to work in line with public health advice. The House Authorities have been undertaking risk assessments of various work spaces and are in direct contact with Public Health England (PHE) on any specific concerns. PHE also published its review at the beginning of June to help us understand how Covid-19 may affect different ethnic groups. The Equalities Minister is taking forward further work following the PHE Review so that we can better understand the disparities. The Government continues to advise members of the parliamentary community, such as Members’ staff and most House staff, to continue to work from home where they can. I would like to commend the House Authorities for their work in ensuring that the Parliamentary Estate is a Covid-19 secure workplace, and I have every confidence in their efforts to make sure House staff at increased risk of contracting coronavirus are suitably protected.

The Government acknowledges the important role that petitions and debates on petitions play in allowing people to scrutinise the government on their own terms. The e-petitions website is jointly owned by Parliament and Government but is overseen by the House of Commons Petitions Committee. It is for the Petitions Committee to bring forward petitions for debate under Standing Order No. 10 (1)(a) and Standing Order No. 145A.

The Government’s view is that select committees in the House of Commons should generally mirror Government departments, though this is ultimately a matter for the House. Precise changes will be announced in due course.

The Government’s view is that select committees in the House of Commons should generally mirror Government departments, though this is ultimately a matter for the House. Precise changes will be announced in due course.

The Office of the Leader of the House of Commons is part of the Cabinet Office. I refer the Hon. Gentleman to the Cabinet Office response to his parliamentary questions (57062, 57075 and 57076) on the same subject, which advise that the information requested is not held centrally.

The introduction of remote voting dealt with the particular circumstances we faced at the time. It was only ever agreed as a temporary measure during an emergency, and any long term changes should be a decision for the House following an inquiry by the Procedure Committee. In the context of a physical return of Parliament, not returning to physical voting would be a significant anomaly and I welcome the House’s agreement to the Government’s approach. The Government is working closely with the Speaker and House Authorities on how voting works in practice, whether that is for live or deferred divisions. I hope I can assure the Hon. Lady that the House authorities are completing this work in consultation with Public Health England to ensure it is in line with public health advice.

Under the Justice and Security Act 2013, the members of the Intelligence and Security Committee must be nominated by the Prime Minister following consultation with the Leader of the Opposition. An announcement on membership will be made in due course in the usual way and then a motion will be tabled for agreement by the House.

I have been in regular contact with the House Authorities throughout the pandemic about the need to bring Parliament back to work in a safe, responsible way in line with public health guidance. As a member of the House of Commons Commission I have also benefited from updates from representatives of the trade unions. In the same way that we prepared for the House’s virtual return after Easter we also worked in collaboration with the House Authorities to ensure that we were ready for the physical return.

Staffing arrangements in the House of Commons are a matter for the House rather than the Government but I am clear that staff should continue to work from home wherever that is possible and any staff that do have to be on site must adhere to the social distancing restrictions. Workplaces should be risk assessed on that basis.

The division lobbies have been replaced by a more appropriate alternative and I pay tribute to Mr Speaker for his work to devise a method of voting that allows us to vote in person but is also safe and in line with Public Health England advice.

I was pleased to see that the time taken for divisions decreased significantly over the course of the day, as members became more used to the new process.

On the specific question of programme motions, it is for the House to agree any programme motions in the usual way.

I would encourage all MPs that are able to do so to return to Parliament. I recognise that health is a personal matter and MPs with health concerns will need to make their own decision about what is appropriate for them. My expectation is that the pairing arrangements will apply to members in cases of illness in the usual way.

For those Members unable to attend Westminster for medical or public health reasons related to the pandemic, I have tabled a motion to allow participation in proceedings on Questions, Urgent Questions and Statements virtually. The Government has also committed to enabling proxy voting for those who are shielding or clinically vulnerable.

Hon. Members are entitled to the same support as anyone who is self isolating, and advice on what to do in that situation can be found on the government website.

I recognise that Members’ health is a personal matter. If a Member is contacted by covid-19 track and trace contact centres they must follow advice in line with public health. This may mean that they need to self isolate and avoid using public transport to reduce risk to others. I trust all members, as dedicated public servants, to follow this advice diligently.

I recognise that Members’ health is a personal matter. If a Member is contacted by covid-19 track and trace contact centres they must follow advice in line with public health. This may mean that they need to self isolate and avoid using public transport to reduce risk to others. I trust all members, as dedicated public servants, to follow this advice diligently.

As I have made clear in my recent appearances in the House, it is my belief that the House of Commons cannot be as effective in carrying out its constitutional duties without its members here.

The government is examining the regional effects of its measures to tackle covid-19, and any further advice on easing the lockdown will be considered carefully against the five tests. However, the return of the House physically is in line with government and scientific advice that those who cannot work from home should now return to work.

I would like to commend the work of the House of Commons Commission, which is making every effort to ensure that the parliamentary estate will be Covid-19 secure, just like any other workplace. Parliament will be following strict social distancing rules; the chamber will be limited to a maximum number of participants and division lobbies will be replaced by a more appropriate alternative.

I set out the Government’s position during today’s Urgent Question and Business Statement.The House cannot be as effective in carrying out its constitutional duties without its members here. I therefore think it essential that all MPs who are able to do so move back to physical ways of working as quickly as possible.

The House Authorities are making every effort to ensure that the return to physical proceedings will be in line with Public Health England guidance and safe for members and the staff of the House.

It is the Government’s clear view that the current hybrid arrangements are temporary, and that as essential workers, the vast majority of MPs must return to parliament physically so that we can pass legislation and enable proper scrutiny of government.

However, someone’s health is a deeply personal matter and if any MPs have been advised to shield by the government and therefore cannot attend the House, the Government is looking at options for participation in some proceedings. For those MPs who will attend the House, we will continue to work in line with public health advice and will work closely with the House authorities to agree social distancing measures ahead of any physical return of Parliament.

The Government is clear about the need to bring Parliament back to work in a safe, responsible way that aligns with public health guidelines that apply to all places of work. We will work closely with the House authorities ahead of any physical return of Parliament and since March there has been frequent communication with Public Health England and all the House Authorities.

It is important that Government departments respond to all enquiries in a timely manner and provide substantive responses to named day questions by the deadline in most cases. I am aware that there have been strains on certain departments owing to the current circumstances and the desire to prioritise COVID-related correspondence and business. I would be happy to take up any particular concerns the hon. Member has on his behalf.

The guidance to Government departments is the same as other workplaces. Ministers and their officials should continue to work from home where that is possible. Where Ministers are required to attend Parliament, they should do so in line with the latest Government guidance. Ministers should discuss their requirements with departments, so that support can be offered safely.

I have been in regular contact with the Speaker and Clerk of the House throughout Parliament’s response to covid-19. In the same way that we prepared for the House’s virtual return after Easter we will work in collaboration with the House Authorities to ensure that we are ready for the physical return. The Commission will be meeting tomorrow to discuss these matters further. We are clear about the need to bring Parliament back to work in a safe, responsible way that aligns with public health guidelines.