Arrangement of Business

Lord Kennedy of Southwark Excerpts

Monday 3rd February 2025 Lords Chamber

[Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms and Chief Whip (Lord Kennedy of Southwark) (Lab Co-op)]

My Lords, before we start Oral Questions, I take this opportunity to remind Members that the House wishes Questions to be short, sharp, succinct and to the point. As I have said many times before, it is called “Question Time” for a reason. There is no greater favour a Member can do for a Minister than to make a speech before asking their question. Equally, the House expects Ministers when replying to questions to be short, sharp, succinct and to the point. If we do this, we will all have greater scrutiny of Ministers and the Government during Question Time, and more Members will get the chance to ask more questions.

Finally, when questions are being asked, we move around the House, enabling Members from different Benches to get in. If a Member from a particular Bench asks a question, it is unlikely that we will get back to that Bench until other supplementaries have been asked from other parts of the House. For example, today the first Question is from my noble friend Lord Rooker. After he has asked his supplementary and it has been answered, we will then move to other Benches. I would not normally expect another Labour Member to ask a question until we have heard from the Conservative, Liberal Democrat and Cross Benches, and maybe even from the Bishops’ Benches.

I hope that this is clear and of assistance to the House.