Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps their Department is taking to reduce the time taken to respond to (a) written parliamentary questions and (b) correspondence from Members of Parliament.

The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) recognises the importance of providing timely responses to written parliamentary questions (WPQs) and correspondence. Every effort is made to provide prompt responses to enquiries, and we continually seek opportunities for improvement in these areas; doing so in regular collaboration with other departments across Whitehall to share best practice.

DCMS has access to regular training led by the Parliamentary Capability Team through the Government Campus. DCMS also runs regular training sessions within the department on WPQs and correspondence to further improve the quality and timeliness of our responses.

Between July 2021 and July 2022, DCMS answered 88% of House of Commons WPQs on time, meaning on the named day or within five working days for ordinary WPQs. In the same period, DCMS answered 67% of ministerial correspondence cases within 20 working days. Additionally, as noted by the Procedure Committee in its report on departmental performance in the 2021-22 session of Parliament, DCMS answered 90% of all WPQs on time during the last session of Parliament.