house of commons pqs july 2015
TRANSCRIPT
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Judith Boyce, Senior Clerk, Table OfficeJuly 2015
Parliamentary Questions in the House of Commons
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Volume of written PQs
• In the 2014-15 Session, 30,869 written PQs were tabled in the Commons– Most: 4,819 to the Department of Health– Least: 139 to the Wales Office– Most by one Member was 531
• In each of the previous two sessions around 44,000 written PQs were tabled
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Table Office
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Why do Members table PQs?
• A vital instrument of parliamentary scrutiny• To seek information or press for action, e.g.:
– To gather data and background information for a debate, campaign or frontbench portfolio
– To follow up a constituency or special interest group issue
– To get more detail or check progress on something that has been announced or said
• Other reasons?
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Oral vs Written
• Chosen by random ‘shuffle’
• Limited information sought
• Opens the door to a supplementary
• Departmental responsibility crucial
• Unlimited (except Named Days)
• May be either open or very detailed
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The role of the Table Office• All PQs are checked by the TO before tabling• We are checking:
– Spelling, sense, obvious errors– Style– Whether the question is ‘in order’ according to
the House’s rules• The TO has authority under the Speaker to make
changes• Where a change would be significant, we ‘card’
and seek a conversation with the Member
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The rules of order for PQs
• Must have basis• Not seeking info readily available,
already provided or blocked• Not argumentative or providing info• Must engage Ministerial responsibility• Must not touch on matters before the
courts
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Insider knowledge…• “If s/he will…” indicates a press for action• “Estimate” or “assessment”• “What representations s/he has received
on…”• Pattern of answering is very important, esp.
for Departmental responsibility and what information Departments make available
• Fuller answers may forestall further questions