Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will place in the Library a copy of his Department's latest internal guidance for officials on the drafting of answers to parliamentary questions.

The Department’s most recent internal guidance dated October 2013 is attached. This guidance is subject to revision following the introduction of the Written Questions and Answers website.

The Office of the Leader of the House provides guidance to all departments on the practice of answering Parliamentary Questions.

The full guide is available on the gov.uk website at:

www.gov.uk/government/publications/guide-to-parliamentary-work

A copy of the guidance has already been placed in the Library. The Office of the Leader of the House of Commons intends to review the Guide to Parliamentary Work in the coming months.