House of Lords: Oral Questions

Lord Foulkes of Cumnock Excerpts

Thursday 21st March 2013 Lords Chamber

[Lord Hill of Oareford]

As is often the case, my Lords, I do think that less is more. The Companion is extremely clear. It says that supplementary questions should be,

“short and confined to not more than two points … they should not incorporate statements of opinion. They should not be read”.

I think all of us will want to remember that.

[Lord Foulkes of Cumnock]

Does the Leader also recall that the Companion says—I must not point—that initial Answers by Ministers should be no more than 75 words long? It is in his power to regulate that. What is he doing about it?

[Lord Hill of Oareford]

If the noble Lord had been able to count the number of words that I gave in my Answer, he would see that it was spot on 75. The noble Lord has just forgotten his own self-injunction about pointing. I have spoken to my Front Bench, and I agree very much about the need for those initial Answers to be succinct. I also think that the shorter the questions, the tendency will be the shorter the answers. Long questions tend to lead to long answers.