Asked by: Ben Spencer (Conservative - Runnymede and Weybridge)
Question to the Leader of the House:
To ask the Leader of the House, how many and what proportion of (a) named day and (b) ordinary written parliamentary questions were answered within the response deadline by (i) Department and (ii) month since 4 July 2024.
Answered by Lucy Powell
Data on response times to written parliamentary questions (PQs) is held by the House, not the government. PQs are an important part of the scrutiny of government and we are committed to ensuring that Members receive full and timely responses. In May 2024, the Procedure Committee published its report regarding Departmental performance in responding to Written Parliamentary Questions (PQs) in the 2022-23 Parliamentary Session (available at:
https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm5804/cmselect/cmproced/676/report.html). The government has recently shared its response with the Committee and recognised that there is room for improvement upon the record of the previous government. I have written to all Members of Cabinet to ask that departments and Ministers consider how performance can be improved in this Parliament.
The Procedure Committee monitors departmental PQ performance and their sessional reporting continues to be an effective tool. I look forward to working with the Committee on this.
Asked by: John Glen (Conservative - Salisbury)
Question to the Leader of the House:
To ask the Leader of the House, Pursuant to the answer of 18 September 2024, to Question 5016, on Emily Middleton, how many written parliamentary question responses have cited a forthcoming FOI response.
Answered by Lucy Powell
The information requested is not held by the government. It is a matter for individual departments to determine how to respond to parliamentary questions from Members. However, 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”. 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 Procedure Committee monitors departmental PQ performance and their sessional reporting continues to be an effective tool. I look forward to working with the Committee on this.
Asked by: John Glen (Conservative - Salisbury)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what (a) direct ministerial and (b) other public appointments to his Department and associated bodies have (i) been (A) removed from their posts and (B) asked to resign and (ii) made since 4 July 2024.
Answered by Feryal Clark
Departments do not routinely record and collect the reasons why appointees leave their positions, so are not in a position to answer this part of the question. Additionally, the reasons why an appointee has left their role is the appointee’s personal information and identifiable and would elicit GDPR considerations.
I refer the Right Honourable Member to the answer I gave on Monday 9 September to Question UIN 2400. Additionally, since then Martha Lane Fox (Co-Chair), Poppy Gustafsson, Paul Willmott (Co-Chair), Jeni Tennison, Dr Anne-Marie Imafidon, Lou Cordwell, Aaron Maniam, David Eaves, Sarah Hunter, Lisa Harrington, Josie Cluer and Lord Richard Allan have been appointed as members of the Digital Centre Design Panel. An announcement containing further details is published here.
Public Appointments are routinely published in the public domain using the Cabinet Office digital service and the sites of the Public Bodies concerned.
Asked by: Baroness Neville-Rolfe (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by the Parliamentary Secretary to the Cabinet Office of 30 July (HC923), whether paragraphs 207–208 of the Cabinet Office's Guide to Parliamentary Work (November 2022) on the relationship between the treatment of requests for information under Parliamentary Questions and the Freedom of Information Act 2000 remain their policy when answering Parliamentary Questions.
Answered by Baroness Twycross - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Guide to Parliamentary Work is published by the Office of the Leader of the House of Commons and is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guide-to-parliamentary-work.
The Government's position regarding the relationship between the treatment of requests for information under Parliamentary Questions and the Freedom of Information Act 2000 is unchanged. It is a routine courtesy and a recognised fundamental right of Parliament that Members receive full and timely responses to parliamentary questions.
Asked by: John Glen (Conservative - Salisbury)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether it is his policy that information which would be released under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 should be released in response to a Parliamentary Question.
Answered by Abena Oppong-Asare
A release of information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 is considered a release to the world at large.
Responses to Parliamentary Questions should adhere to Ministers’ obligations under the Ministerial Code.
Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to his Departments consultation outcome entitled Work Capability Assessment: activities and descriptors, published 5 September 2023, what the (a) grade and (b) job titles were of the staff who undertook the research exercise.
Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister (Women)
In November 2023, we announced changes to the Work Capability Assessment (WCA) criteria. The full response to the public consultation on these changes can be found here.
We do not know what “research exercise” the questions are referring to but have interpreted these questions to be about internal policy development undertaken before and during the consultation exercise on changes to the WCA. This work was undertaken by a variety of staff from a mix of grades and job titles, including Senior Civil Servants. We will publish an Impact Assessment in due course.
We undertook considerable engagement during the consultation period and received over 1300 written responses. We listened carefully to what people told us and took their views into account when deciding which changes to take forward. We took care to ensure the views of disabled people and people with health conditions, as well as the views of the charities, groups and organisations representing and supporting them, were considered. We also engaged directly with external clinical experts and employers.
Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to his Departments consultation outcome entitled Work Capability Assessment: activities and descriptors, published 5 September 2023, for what reason the results of the research exercise have not been published.
Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister (Women)
In November 2023, we announced changes to the Work Capability Assessment (WCA) criteria. The full response to the public consultation on these changes can be found here.
We do not know what “research exercise” the questions are referring to but have interpreted these questions to be about internal policy development undertaken before and during the consultation exercise on changes to the WCA. This work was undertaken by a variety of staff from a mix of grades and job titles, including Senior Civil Servants. We will publish an Impact Assessment in due course.
We undertook considerable engagement during the consultation period and received over 1300 written responses. We listened carefully to what people told us and took their views into account when deciding which changes to take forward. We took care to ensure the views of disabled people and people with health conditions, as well as the views of the charities, groups and organisations representing and supporting them, were considered. We also engaged directly with external clinical experts and employers.
Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to his Departments consultation outcome entitled Work Capability Assessment: activities and descriptors, published 5 September 2023, how many cases were reviewed as part of the research.
Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister (Women)
In November 2023, we announced changes to the Work Capability Assessment (WCA) criteria. The full response to the public consultation on these changes can be found here.
We do not know what “research exercise” the questions are referring to but have interpreted these questions to be about internal policy development undertaken before and during the consultation exercise on changes to the WCA. This work was undertaken by a variety of staff from a mix of grades and job titles, including Senior Civil Servants. We will publish an Impact Assessment in due course.
We undertook considerable engagement during the consultation period and received over 1300 written responses. We listened carefully to what people told us and took their views into account when deciding which changes to take forward. We took care to ensure the views of disabled people and people with health conditions, as well as the views of the charities, groups and organisations representing and supporting them, were considered. We also engaged directly with external clinical experts and employers.
Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to his Departments consultation outcome entitled Work Capability Assessment: activities and descriptors, published 5 September 2023, how his Department selected the cases to be reviewed.
Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister (Women)
In November 2023, we announced changes to the Work Capability Assessment (WCA) criteria. The full response to the public consultation on these changes can be found here.
We do not know what “research exercise” the questions are referring to but have interpreted these questions to be about internal policy development undertaken before and during the consultation exercise on changes to the WCA. This work was undertaken by a variety of staff from a mix of grades and job titles, including Senior Civil Servants. We will publish an Impact Assessment in due course.
We undertook considerable engagement during the consultation period and received over 1300 written responses. We listened carefully to what people told us and took their views into account when deciding which changes to take forward. We took care to ensure the views of disabled people and people with health conditions, as well as the views of the charities, groups and organisations representing and supporting them, were considered. We also engaged directly with external clinical experts and employers.
Asked by: Lord Jopling (Conservative - Life peer)
Question
To ask the Leader of the House, with regard to the 19 questions for written answer that remained unanswered after 10 working days on 12 February, how many of the answering bodies have not sent an apology to the questioner for the delay in responding.
Answered by Lord True - Shadow Leader of the House of Lords
As Leader of the House, I take my duty to represent the House to His Majesty’s Government with the utmost seriousness. Central to this is ensuring that Peers have their questions answered in a timely fashion by all departments. Over the recent months, I have reminded all Front Bench Ministers of their duty to respond to Written Questions within the 10 day target.
In addition to this, my Office routinely contacts departments who have breached this target to ascertain the reasons why their deadlines have been missed. As an indication of how seriously I have taken this issue, I have also written to the Permanent Secretaries of departments and met individually with Front Bench Ministers who repeatedly miss the target.
I believe an apology is appropriate in such circumstances, but that it is a matter for each individual department to determine.