Question to the Leader of the House:

To ask the Leader of the House, whether he has taken steps to implement the suggested initial priorities outlined in the Memorandum to the Modernisation Committee, published on 12 February 2025.

Answered by Alan Campbell - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons

The Memorandum to the Modernisation Committee, published on 13 February 2025, set out the Committee’s next steps, following the consultation exercise it held between October and December 2024. The Memorandum stated that the Committee intended to pursue three broad packages of work. These were: improving accessibility for MPs, staff and the public; effective use of the Commons; and creating more certainty about the timing and nature of parliamentary business.

So far, the Committee has prioritised work on the first of these three themes. It launched an inquiry into Access to the House of Commons and its Procedures on 20 March 2025. Between April and July, it held seven oral evidence sessions, hearing from disabled MPs and former MPs, staff, and peers, and from academics and senior House of Commons staff, including the Clerk of the House and the Director General. Transcripts of all the sessions are available on the Committee’s website. The inquiry has also drawn on submissions to the consultation exercise, questionnaire responses, written evidence, and one-to-one interviews.

A report with recommendations to the House authorities and others is currently in preparation. A letter from the Director General to the then Chair of the Modernisation Committee, dated 28 May 2025, outlines some of the measures that have already been taken as a result of the Committee’s inquiry. This letter is also available on the Committee’s website.

The other two themes mentioned in the Memorandum remain areas of interest and ongoing work for the Committee, but have not yet been the subject of an inquiry. The Modernisation Committee made it clear in its Memorandum that it wants to work with other committees and it awaits with interest the outcome of the Procedure Committee’s inquiries into call lists, and electronic voting, the Standards Committee’s inquiry into outside employment and interests, and the Administration Committee’s inquiry into health and wellbeing.

Found: Chair: If you can convince the Leader of the House to give us more time, we would be delighted to allocate

Found: Letter from the Chair of the Committee to the Leader of the House relating to the Rail Reform Bill, dated

Found: The Leader of the House was very positive in his response and encouraged me to apply to your good selves

Found: Both the then Environment Secretary and the then Leader of the House subsequently prejudged the outcome

Found: Appendix 1: Government Response: Letter from the Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House

Found: I was there, because I was working for Robin Cook as Leader of the House at the time, and Gwyneth Dunwoody

Found: I had a meeting with the Leader of the House yesterday, and he was pointing out that we should have

Question

To ask the Leader of the House what monitoring process is in place to ensure that responses to Written Questions answer the question that has been asked.

Answered by Baroness Smith of Basildon - Leader of the House of Lords and Lord Privy Seal

As Leader I regularly remind Ministers of the importance of timely and accurate answers to written questions. I have met the working group of departmental Parliamentary Clerks and am scheduled to meet separately Permanent Secretaries next week to stress the importance of written questions and the need for those to be answered on time. Alongside this my office routinely contacts departments who have breached the 10 working day target.

Question

To ask the Leader of the House whether audits are conducted by departments to assess the accuracy of answers given to Written Questions.

Answered by Baroness Smith of Basildon - Leader of the House of Lords and Lord Privy Seal

It is the responsibility for departmental Ministers to ensure that answers to written questions are accurate and address the question posed by the Peer. It is for each individual department to decide its approach to auditing responses. The Guide to Parliamentary Work makes clear that “in responding to questions, ministers should follow the principles of the Ministerial Code making the utmost effort to give accurate and helpful answers”.

Question

To ask the Leader of the House when she expects a Written Answer to be given to the question asked by Lord Blunkett on 17 September (HL10619) regarding the transfer of Skills England from the Department for Education to the Department for Work and Pensions.

Answered by Baroness Smith of Basildon - Leader of the House of Lords and Lord Privy Seal

The question was answered by the Department for Work and Pensions on the 27th October 2025. I apologise for the delay and have reminded the department of the need to meet the response target of 10 working days.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether they expect to have completed the abolition of NHS England by March 2027.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The abolition of NHS England requires primary legislation, and as such is subject to the will of Parliament. We are working with the Leader of the House and business managers to ensure an appropriate schedule that enables us to work towards the two-year delivery timetable already announced.

Until such a time when appropriate changes are made, the Department and NHS England will continue to carry out their respective statutory functions. In the interim, teams will increasingly start working closely together under an interim joint leadership team.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government when they plan to introduce legislation to abolish NHS England and redistribute its functions.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The abolition of NHS England requires primary legislation, and as such is subject to the will of Parliament. We are working with the Leader of the House and business managers to ensure an appropriate schedule that enables us to work towards the two-year delivery timetable already announced.

Until such a time when appropriate changes are made, the Department and NHS England will continue to carry out their respective statutory functions. In the interim, teams will increasingly start working closely together under an interim joint leadership team.

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