Question to the Leader of the House:

To ask the Leader of the House, pursuant to the Answer of 17 December 2024 to Question 18705 on Home Office: Equality, if she will hold discussions with Cabinet colleagues on the adequacy of the time taken to respond to written parliamentary questions where there is a Freedom of Information request on the same subject.

I have written to all Members of Cabinet to remind departments and Ministers about the importance of providing full and timely responses to parliamentary questions.

The government's position regarding the relationship between the treatment of requests for information through parliamentary questions and the Freedom of Information Act 2000 is unchanged. The Guide to Parliamentary Work (available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guide-to-parliamentary-work), published by my office, states that “if information would be released under FOI, it would also be released in response to a WPQ”.

The Procedure Committee monitors departmental PQ performance and their sessional reporting continues to be an effective tool.