Question to the Leader of the House:

To ask the Leader of the House, what steps he will take to allow Members to vote by proxy if a family member is dying or has died.

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

The Government is always seeking to ensure that the balance is right and that we retain a robust voting system. Any changes to the voting system must be given careful consideration and should only ever be taken forwards when there is a clear consensus for change across the House.

The Procedure Committee has committed to conducting a further review of the proxy voting scheme later in the Parliament, and I would encourage the Hon. Member to engage with the Committee when it undertakes that work. Should the Committee consider the further extension of the proxy voting scheme as part of that review, the Government would give careful consideration to any recommendations from the Committee on this matter.

Question to the Leader of the House:

To ask the Leader of the House, pursuant to the Answer of 17 March 2026 to Question 119365 on Members: Dual Jobholding, whether he plans to amend the House of Commons Code of Conduct to ban hon. Members taking secondary employment through speakers’ bureaus and paid speaking engagements.

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

I refer the Hon. Member to the response provided to his question 119365.

I look forward to working with the Committee on Standards as it continues its inquiry into MPs’ employment and outside interests.

Question to the Leader of the House:

To ask the Leader of the House, with reference to HM Government’s submission to the Procedure Committee, WRP0015, published 28 January 2026, paragraph 29, what steps is the Leader of the House taking to address the inconsistencies on the approach to written questions and the Freedom of Information Act in relation to written answers by the Cabinet Office.

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

It is a matter for individual departments to determine how to respond to parliamentary questions from Members.

The Guide to Parliamentary Work (available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guide-to-parliamentary-work), published by my office, sets out the government's position regarding the relationship between the treatment of requests for information through parliamentary questions and the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act 2000. Paragraph 221 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 and spoken with Departmental Parliamentary Clerks and Permanent Secretaries to remind departments and Ministers about the importance of providing full and helpful responses to WPQs - including their obligations to disclose information in WPQs that would be released under FOI.

I continue to encourage Hon. Members to raise any specific issues they may have with myself or my office.

Question to the Leader of the House:

To ask the Leader of the House, with reference to the Government’s submission to the Procedure Committee, WRP0015, published 28 January 2026, paragraph 14, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the quality of answers received on the number of written Parliamentary Questions tabled.

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

I refer the Hon. Member to paragraphs 15-18 of the Government’s submission to the Procedure Committee (WRP0015).

The quality of answers provided to Members is of equal importance to the timeliness of the response. However, the Government notes the significant and sustained increase in the volume of WPQs this session, which inevitably has an impact on the quality of the answers.

I look forward to working with the Procedure Committee as it continues its inquiry into written parliamentary questions.

Found: The Leader of the House of Commons has certainly talked about the need for the debates—I know it is

Found: wider spectrum of people than they were when the system was brought under the auspices of the Leader of the House

Found: Two—the Leader of the House of Commons and the Chair of the Committee of Public Accounts (PAC)—are

Found: I remember the now Leader of the House saying to me that he was brought in to see Betty Boothroyd,

Found: Since 2010, in opposition, he served as shadow Leader of the House of Commons, the shadow Secretary

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 12 March 2026 to Question 118784 on Leader of the House: Written Questions, if he will make an assessment of the adequacy of the Cabinet Office Answer of 24 February 2026 to Question 113610 in light of his answer to Question 118784.

Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office

Due to the small size of some teams, releasing this information with the specified detail could create concerns regarding personal data.

Found: govuk-template--rebranded" lang="en">