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Written Question
Leader of the House of Commons: Cybersecurity
Monday 11th September 2023

Asked by: Julian Knight (Independent - Solihull)

Question to the Leader of the House:

To ask the Leader of the House, what steps your department is taking to enhance cybersecurity and protect personal data

Answered by Penny Mordaunt - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons

The Office of the Leader of the House of Commons is part of the Cabinet Office. I refer the Hon. Member to the response to be provided by the Cabinet Office (196755).

Deposited Papers
Cabinet Office

Dec. 14 2010

Source Page: The Cabinet Manual – Draft. A guide to laws, conventions, and rules on the operation of government. 150 p.
Document: DEP2010-2259.pdf (PDF)

Found: The Cabinet Manual – Draft.

Select Committee
Formal Minutes of the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee in Session 2022−23

Formal Minutes May. 09 2024

Committee: Northern Ireland Affairs Committee (Department: Northern Ireland Office)

Found: Formal Minutes of the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee in Session 2022−23 Formal Minutes

Select Committee
House of Commons Administration
 PAO0001 - Pre-appointment Hearing: The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman

Written Evidence Mar. 21 2024

Committee: Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee

Found: PAO0001 - Pre-appointment Hearing: The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman House of Commons Administration

Select Committee
Stephen Flynn - Written Evidence

Report Nov. 30 2023

Committee: Committee on Standards

Found: Stephen Flynn - Written Evidence Report

Select Committee
Formal Minutes 2023 - 24

Formal Minutes May. 29 2024

Committee: Administration Committee

Found: ; • declarations of members' interests; • details of written and oral evidence reported to the House

Parliamentary Research
Increases in anti-Semitic offences - CDP-2023-0238
Dec. 29 2023

Found: Dec 2023 | Written questions | Answered | House of Commons | 6947 Increases in antisemitic

Written Question
Government Departments: Correspondence
Thursday 7th September 2023

Asked by: Julian Knight (Independent - Solihull)

Question to the Leader of the House:

To ask the Leader of the House, what steps she is taking to help ensure that Members' requests for assistance on ministerial correspondence are addressed in a timely manner.

Answered by Penny Mordaunt - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons

Parliament has a right to hold Ministers to account and, as Leader of the House, I expect Government Ministers to respond quickly and effectively to Members’ correspondence. I will continue to drive that message and I encourage members who get an unsatisfactory response to write to me and I will take this up for any Member who does not get a proper response.

I recognise that my office and I have a role to play in making representations to Government on behalf of the House of Commons, and have taken a number of actions:

  • I write to Cabinet colleagues every week following Business Questions to take up the concerns raised by Members, including in relation to delayed responses to correspondence.
  • I have met with all departmental Permanent Secretaries where I reiterated the importance of substantive and timely answers to written parliamentary questions.
  • I met separately with the Home Office Permanent Secretary following a number of concerns raised during Business Questions.
  • I participated in a ‘Leading in Parliament’ session with Senior Civil Servants.
  • In line with the practice of my predecessors, I have written to all members of Cabinet.
  • My office oversees the Parliamentary Clerks’ Working Group, which brings together all departmental Parliamentary Clerks from across Whitehall to discuss topical issues and share best practice.

The Parliamentary Capability Team in the Cabinet Office also provides training on managing parliamentary work to civil servants of all departments and grades, including blended learning courses on ministerial correspondence and tailored workshops for Senior Civil Servants. Since April 2022, 1,160 civil servants from across government have attended training provided by the Parliamentary Capability Team on managing Ministerial Correspondence and Written Parliamentary Questions.

As per the Cabinet Office’s Guide to Handling Correspondence (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/handling-government-correspondence-guidance), departments and agencies should aim to respond to correspondence within a 20-working day target deadline. The Cabinet Office published data on this for 2022 for all government departments on GOV.UK in March 2023, and will be publishing data for Q1 and Q2 2023 shortly. The 2022 data can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/data-on-responses-to-correspondence-from-mps-and-peers-2022.

Select Committee
A risk-based exclusion policy for the House of Commons – updated proposals

Report Dec. 14 2023

Committee: House of Commons Commission Committee

Found: A risk-based exclusion policy for the House of Commons – updated proposals HC 386 Report

Parliamentary Research
UK and international response to Houthis in the Red Sea 2024 - CBP-9930
Jan. 15 2024

Found: UK and international response to Houthis in the Red Sea 2024