Asked by: Jessica Morden (Labour - Newport East)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, 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.
Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
All departments have access to regular training led by the Parliamentary Capability Team through the Government Campus. The Ministry of Justice attaches great importance to the effective and timely handling of Parliamentary Questions (PQs) and correspondence, and officials remain committed to providing the highest level of service. To complement the work of the Parliamentary Capability Team, the Ministry of Justice also runs tailored training sessions for MoJ staff specific to PQs and correspondence to drive up the quality and timeliness of our responses. These sessions have been delivered 7 times since July.
Asked by: Jessica Morden (Labour - Newport East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, 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.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Government attaches great importance to the effective and timely handling of written parliamentary questions and correspondence from MPs, either directly or on behalf of their constituents. All departments have access to regular training led by the Parliamentary Capability Team through the Government Campus.
Following the significant increase in numbers since 2020, the FCDO has an ongoing focused programme of work to streamline processes and improve response times to tackle the high volume. Annual and Quarterly data on MP/Peer letter performance, published on https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/data-on-responses-to-correspondence-from-mps-and-peers shows the FCDO has improved from 50% on time in 2021 to 72% so far this year. The latest House of Commons Procedure Committee report published in July 2022 records the FCDO improvement in answering ordinary written parliamentary questions from 87% for 2019-21 Session to 94% for 2021-22, and similarly for named day written parliamentary questions from 84% to 89%.
Asked by: Jessica Morden (Labour - Newport East)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, 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.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
All departments have access to regular training led by the Parliamentary Capability Team through the Government Campus.
The Department for International Trade (DIT) is committed to providing effective, timely answers to written Parliamentary Questions (PQs) and correspondence. We review our processes and performance at regular intervals and run tailored training sessions for staff to drive up the quality and timeliness of responses.
Asked by: Jessica Morden (Labour - Newport East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, 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.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department attaches great importance to the effective and timely handling of correspondence from Members of Parliament, either directly, or on behalf of their constituents. The Department runs tailored training sessions for Departmental colleagues specific to written parliamentary questions and ministerial correspondence to improve the quality and timeliness of responses.
All Departments also have access to regular training led by the Parliamentary Capability Team through the Government Campus.
Asked by: Jessica Morden (Labour - Newport East)
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.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
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.
Asked by: Jessica Morden (Labour - Newport East)
Question to the Wales Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, 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.
Answered by David T C Davies - Secretary of State for Wales
All Departments have access to regular training led by the Parliamentary Capability Team through the Government Campus.
The Office of the Secretary of State for Wales attaches great importance to the effective and timely handling of Parliamentary Questions (PQs) and correspondence, and officials remain committed to providing the highest level of service.
Between the period of May to July inclusive, the Office of the Secretary of State for Wales answered 100% of written parliamentary questions and 100% of correspondence from Members of Parliament on time.
Asked by: Jessica Morden (Labour - Newport East)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, 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.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
All departments have access to regular training led by the Parliamentary Capability Team through the Government Campus.
The Cabinet Office attaches great importance to the effective and timely handling of Parliamentary Questions (PQs) and correspondence, and officials remain committed to providing the highest level of service. To complement the work of the Parliamentary Capability Team, the Cabinet Office also runs tailored training sessions for Cabinet Office staff specific to PQs and Correspondence to drive up the quality and timeliness of our responses. These sessions have been delivered 3 times since July.
Between the period of May to July inclusive, the Cabinet Office consistently answered over 90% of PQs on time each month, and an average of 86% of all ministerial correspondence on time over those 3 months.
Asked by: Lord Jopling (Conservative - Life peer)
Question
To ask the Leader of the House what plans he has to seek explanations from (1) the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, and (2) the Home Office, concerning their failure to respond to Questions for Written Answer tabled in June and July, contrary to the convention that answers should be provided within 10 working days.
Answered by Lord True - Leader of the House of Lords and Lord Privy Seal
As Leader of the House, I shall take my responsibility to ensure all Ministers provide full, timely and accurate responses to Questions for Written Answers (QWAs) very seriously.
On 7 September 2022 there were four overdue QWAs directed to the Home Office (HO), and one directed to the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO). As of 28 September 2022, the number of outstanding QWAs from June and July had reduced: the Home Office had two late answers and the FCDO had none.
My office contacted the FCDO who explained that a technical error prevented their response from being uploaded to the website by the deadline. They have confirmed that a response was issued on 20 July 2022 and a copy was sent via email to the Peer.
Similarly, the HO has confirmed their two outstanding QWAs were cleared on 11 July but due to a separate technical error, were not uploaded to the website. This issue is being investigated by the HO to prevent it reoccurring. The tabling Peer has been contacted.
As Leader, I will undertake to remind colleagues of the importance of answering QWAs within the 10 day target, as well as their obligation to the House and Parliament’s important role in scrutinising the Government. My office will continue to work closely with all Departments across Government, and, upon the House’s return, I will write to colleagues to ensure all Ministers in the House of Lords are aware of their duties and what is expected of them in fulfilling their duty to be accountable to your Lordships’ House.
Asked by: Jessica Morden (Labour - Newport East)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many and what proportion of written questions to each Government department received the response that information was not available in the format requested in (a) 2019, (b) 2020, (c) 2021 and (d) January to May 2022.
Answered by Michael Ellis
Details of responses to written parliamentary questions from other government departments are not recorded centrally by the Cabinet Office. All questions that received responses that cited disproportionate costs or information not being available in the format requested can be found publicly on the parliament.uk website and can be searched for within the years requested.
Asked by: Jessica Morden (Labour - Newport East)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many and what proportion of written questions sent to each Government department received a response citing disproportionate cost as grounds upon which not to provide a substantive answer in (a) 2019, (b) 2020, (c) 2021and (d) January-May 2022.
Answered by Michael Ellis
Details of responses to written parliamentary questions from other government departments are not recorded centrally by the Cabinet Office. All questions that received responses that cited disproportionate costs or information not being available in the format requested can be found publicly on the parliament.uk website and can be searched for within the years requested.