Question to the Leader of the House:

To ask the Leader of the House, with reference to the Point of Order from the hon. Member for Basildon and Billericay of 29 October 2025, what recent guidance he has sent to Departments on paragraph 221 of the Guide to Parliamentary Work, published in November 2024.

The government's position regarding the relationship between the treatment of requests for information through parliamentary questions and the Freedom of Information Act 2000 - as set out in the Guide to Parliamentary Work - is unchanged.

I have written to all Members of Cabinet and spoken with Departmental Parliamentary Clerks to remind departments and Ministers about the importance of providing full and helpful responses to parliamentary questions.