This slideshow gives details on how the House of Commons deals with Parliamentary Questions.

1. Parliamentary Questions
Dr Robin James
Deputy Head, Table Office, House of Commons

2. Types of questions
• Oral questions (not edited
until after shuffle)
– Substantive
– Topical (no notice)
– Urgent
• Written questions (200-300
per day)
– Ordinary
– Named day

3. Oral and written questions compared
• To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what recent
assessment he has made of the effectiveness of special needs education provision in
Buckinghamshire
• To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many pupils
with special educational needs (SEN) attended each (a) primary (b) secondary, and
(c) special school in (i) Buckinghamshire, (ii) Warwickshire and (iii) England in each
year since 1997; how much was allocated to the provision of services for SEN in
each type of school in each such year; what percentage of pupils in each category of
school had (1) declared and (2) a statement of special needs in (A)
Buckinghamshire, (B) Warwickshire and (C) England in each such year; what
proportion of pupils in each school in each category was entitled to free (x) milk and
(y) school meals; what mechanisms are in place to assess the value-added measure
of special educational needs provision in schools; and what average value was added
to SEN pupils educational attainment in England.
Questions are subject to an absolute 250 word limit (like motions). Most PQs are short
seeking between 5 and 10 pieces of information.

4. Member tables
question
Problem
Minor editing
only
Discussion
/editing
Question
returned to
Member
Carded “The Shuffle”
Rescue edit
Fatal flaw
Readily
availabled
ESVO
Publication in
“the Blues”
Departments
Answer
Successful Unsuccessful
Member’s File
Departments ESVO
Ministers Order Paper
Question Time
Answer
1 month
passes...
Question not reached
Under the authority of
the Speaker...
Use and application of
rules, practice,
convention, Speaker’s
rulings, precedent,
parliamentary language,
House style, common
sense, judgement, Erskine
May, Google.

5. Tabling
• Members may submit
– signed questions by post or staff member etc.
– unsigned questions in person
– questions on behalf of another Member
• Members may e-table questions
– quasi-secure, intranet-based system
– provides prompts for basic information
– restricts type of questions
– works from the remotest locations
– only questions (not EDMs or amendments)

6. Example of a question
• Not all questions are this
neat!
• Questions sub-edited by
team of six Clerks in Table
Office under authority of the
Speaker

7. For example...
• There is a marked difference
between the style of
questions you’d find in court
or in the media to that which
are asked in Parliament
• Questions drafted by outside
organisations or new staff
can be particularly
challenging

8. Checking questions: fundamentals (1)
• Is the date correct? (especially an oral)
• Is it authorised?
• Is the Department appropriate? (especially an oral)
• Is it legible?
• Is it grammatical?
• Is it in a suitable style?
• Does the question (a) seek information or (b) press for action?
• Is it a matter for which the Minister has responsibility?
• Is it a devolved matter?

9. Checking questions: fundamentals (2)
• Is there some factual basis for the question?
• Has it been asked and answered recently?
• Does it seek an opinion?
• Does it seek an interpretation of the law?
• Is the information readily available?
• Is it blocked?
• Does it seek to advance an argument or convey information?
• Does it make an argumentative connection?
• Is it sub judice…

10. The sub judice resolution
• No reference to cases in which proceedings are active in UK
courts (self-denying ordinance)
– Criminal cases: when charges made
– Civil cases: when case set down for trial
– Appeals: application for leave
• Includes matters before Coroners’ Courts
• Excludes cases where a ministerial decision is in question; and
cases in courts beyond UK jurisdiction
• The Speaker has discretion to waive

11. Oral / Written
Oral (lottery)
• One oral and one topical
• Single question
• Departmental responsibility
crucial
• Must indicate supplementary
Written (no limit)
• No limit
• Composite
• Departments can transfer
• Can be open or narrow

12. Oral questions
• Tabled between end of last Question time and 12.30pm three
sitting days before the next
• Departments on a five week rota; most for 55 minutes (including
15 minutes for topicals)
• Departments see questions between 3 and 4pm on the day of
the shuffle
• Not all the normal rules are applied to supplementaries put in
the Chamber
• Questions printed but not reached get written answer

13. For answer on a named day
• Members may table up to five questions per tabling day where
the date for answer is “named” (but must give two or more
sitting days’ notice)
• A Minister must provide an answer on the day named; but this
can be a holding reply

14. Topical oral questions
• Last 15 minutes of Question time allocated to ‘topical’ oral
questions asked without notice
• Supplementaries to initial question: “if s/he will make a
statement on her/his Department’s responsibilities”
• Intended to enable discussion of matters arising since the
deadline for normal orals for that Question time
• Allied to this is a rota for oral questions whereby Departmental
Ministers appear less often but for longer than had been the
case

15. Urgent and daily PQs
• Successful applications to the Speaker for the opportunity to put
an urgent question for oral answer by a Minister are governed by
strict criteria. Used to be rare but under present Speaker are
much more frequent
• Questions for answer the following day (often ‘planted’ by
Government to enable an announcement) have been replaced by
Written Statements

16. Some questions
• To ask the Secretary of State
for Education and Skills how
many deaths have been
caused by fruit in schools in
each of the last 10 years.
• The Government does not
collect such data.

17. Some more questions
• To ask the Secretary of State
for Environment, Food and
Rural Affairs, what the cause
of death was of each
harbour porpoise stranded
on the coasts of (a) Cornwall
(b) Devon and (c) Dorset in
each of the last five years.
• From 1 January 2000 until 17 March
2005 a total of 352 harbour porpoises
were stranded on the coasts of Cornwall,
Devon and Dorset. Table 1 gives a
breakdown for each county. The number
of carcases reported is always higher
than the number which are suitable for or
actually go to post mortem. I have
provided a breakdown for each county
for each year, and the causes of death
where post mortems were carried out
can be found in tables 2 to 4. Strandings
data is obtained under the Defra-funded
Cetacean and Turtle Strandings Scheme,
carried out by the Natural History
Museum in partnership with the Institute
of Zoology and Scottish Agricultural
College.

18. Even more questions
• To ask the Secretary of State
for the Home Department
whether he was consulted on
Lancashire Police’s policy of
giving free buttered toast to
late night revellers to
prevent violence.
• This is an operational matter
for Lancashire Police

19. How to edit a question
• To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, given London
Underground’s poor record in comparison to other countries’
metro systems, if he will detail the number of escalators on the
London Underground that have been out of service for longer
than one week in the current maintenance crisis; if he will list
current cases where compensation for accidents arising out of
poor elevator maintenance is being sought; what assessment he
has made of the Tube Passengers Action Group report on litter
on elevators; whether littering on the Underground is an offence
under health and safety legislation or LU bye-laws; and if he will
confirm the number of occasions he has used London
Underground (a) to get to work and (b) with his family

20. Does it convey information?
• To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, given London
Underground’s poor record in comparison to other countries’
metro systems, if he will detail the number of escalators on the
London Underground that have been out of service for longer
than one week in the current maintenance crisis ; if he will list
current cases where compensation for accidents arising out of
poor elevator maintenance is being sought; what assessment he
has made of the Tube Passengers Action Group report on litter
on elevators; whether littering on the Underground is an offence
under health and safety legislation or LU bye-laws; and if he will
confirm the number of occasions he has used the tube (a) to get
to work (b) with his family

21. Is it verbose?
• To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will detail the
number of escalators on the London Underground that have
been out of service for longer than one week in the current
maintenance crisis; if he will list current cases where
compensation for accidents arising out of poor elevator
maintenance is being sought; what assessment he has made of
the Tube Passengers Action Group report on litter on elevators;
whether littering on the Underground is an offence under health
and safety legislation or LU bye-laws; and if he will confirm the
number of occasions he has used the tube (a) to get to work (b)
with his family

22. Does it refer to matters sub judice?
• To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many
escalators on the London Underground have been out of service
for longer than one week; if he will list current cases where
compensation for accidents arising out of poor elevator
maintenance is being sought; what assessment he has made of
the Tube Passengers Action Group report on litter on elevators;
whether littering on the Underground is an offence under health
and safety legislation or LU bye-laws; and how many times he
has used the tube (a) to get to work (b) with his family

23. Is the Minister actually responsible?
• To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many
escalators on the London Underground have been out of service
for longer than one week; what assessment he has made of the
Tube Passengers Action Group report on litter; whether littering
on the Underground is an offence under health and safety
legislation or LU bye-laws; and how many times he has used the
tube (a) to get to work (b) with his family

24. Does it seek interpretation of the law?
• To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many
escalators on the London Underground have been out of service
for longer than one week; whether littering on the Underground
is an offence under health and safety legislation or LU bye-laws;
and how many times he has used the tube to get to work

25. Is it an operational matter?
• To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many
escalators on the London Underground have been out of service
for longer than one week; and how many times he has used the
tube to get to work

26. Does it have context and a timescale?
• To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many times he
has used the tube to get to work
…but needs some context and a timescale, so
• To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many times he
has used London Underground to get to work since the
establishment of his Department’s green transport plan.

27. Side by side
• To ask the Secretary of State for Transport,
given London Underground’s poor record in
comparison to other countries’ metro
systems, if he will detail the number of
escalators on the London Underground that
have been out of service for longer than one
week in the current maintenance crisis; if he
will list current cases where compensation
for accidents arising out of poor elevator
maintenance is being sought; what
assessment he has made of the Tube
Passengers Action Group report on litter on
elevators; whether littering on the
Underground is an offence under health and
safety legislation or LU bye-laws; and if he
will confirm the number of occasions he has
used London Underground (a) to get to work
and (b) with his family
• To ask the Secretary of State
for Transport, how many
times he has used London
Underground to get to work
since the establishment of
his Department’s green
transport plan.

28. Constructing a PQ: Pressing for action
• If s/he will…<do something within appropriate powers and
responsibilities>; and if s/he will make a statement.
– <allocate money to local hospital or other service>
– <publish, or place in Library, something>
– <bring forward proposals to [change the law in some
respect]>

29. Constructing a PQ: Seeking information
• How many… When… For what reasons…
• What plans s/he has to…<do something likely within duties and
responsibilities>
• What [recent] assessment (qualitative) or estimate
(quantitative) s/he has made of <matter within duties and
responsibilities>
• What steps s/he has taken to <do something likely or
announced within responsibilities>
• What progress has been made in <some aspect of departmental
initiative or other>

30. Constructing a PQ: things to avoid
• Too many words (if s/he will make available information
detailing the number of…)
• The formulation: “if s/he will make a statement on … <vague or
general policy area>”
• Emotive, pejorative or subjective language:
– crisis = situation
– delay = time taken
– failure = performance
– fall/reduction/cut = change
– atrocities = events
– suffering = diagnosed with
– benefit from / enjoy / suffer = participate in / receive /
experience

31. Getting answers
• Answers are formally made to ‘the House’ and not to the
individual Member who asked the question.
• Since the introduction of the ‘Q&A’ system in September 2014,
Answers to written questions are emailed by the answering
Department to the Member concerned and no longer appear in
Hansard.

32. Unsatisfactory answers
• Government may decline to reply at all:
– Information not: collected, held, collated in the format
requested, recorded at the level asked for
– Answer only available at disproportionate cost
– Practice of successive governments not to answer on:
security matters, legal advice, internal advice from officials,
commercially confidential matters, rules of engagement,
individual tax affairs, privacy of identifiable civil servants,
proceedings of cabinet committees
• A Member may conclude that the Government has not answered
a particular question satisfactorily
• No formal Parliamentary mechanism for seeking remedy where
Members are unhappy with answers received, although
Procedure Committee keeps watching brief

33. ‘Carding’ and readily availables
• When TO clerks need to talk
to a Member about a PQ, the
Member is sent a card, or
other message, inviting them
to the office for a discussion
• Cards are approved by the
Head of the Office
• Members can visit or phone
but not e-mail or delegate
this responsibility
• Questions which seek
information that is ‘readily
available’, either as
published data or in a recent
answer, are returned to the
Member with a copy of the
information sought

34. Daily challenges
• Ministers who make speeches on matters outside their
responsibilities
• Researchers who think they are Members (some become
Members!)
• Members who think we are (a) researchers or (b) political
• Tendency amongst Members to succumb to the ‘something must
be done’/’the Government is ultimately responsible’ mindset
• Slogans as debate titles
• Working practices / systems

35. What happens at Prime Minister’s Questions?
• The Prime Minister answers questions in the Chamber every Wednesday
at 12.00 noon
• Questions can be on anything for which the Government could
conceivably be responsible, and no notice is given of questions
• Unlike question times to Ministers, there are no supplementary questions
– this is because each Member’s substantive question is ‘the
Engagements question’ (If he will list his official engagements for
Wednesday 18 January)...
• ...to which the PM answers “This morning I had meetings with ministerial
colleagues and others and, in addition to my duties in this House, I shall
have further such meetings later today.”
• As well as questions from Members, the Leader of the Opposition gets six
questions of his own, which can be on different subjects

36. Nature of PMQs
• The House is always full, and many Members are often keen to
be ‘in their place’ for PMQs
• Both sides of the House want to feel as if they have come out on
top
• PMQs is a naturally adversarial occasion
• The view that the spectacle of Prime Minister’s Questions plays
against the reputation of both Members and Parliament is
widespread
• This is not helped by the fact that PMQs is the single most-reported
part of the parliamentary week

37. So why bother with it?
• PMQs is an important reminder of the principle that
Government is accountable to Parliament, and through
Parliament to the people
• Used as a weathervane for political sentiment in the country –
Prime Ministers and Leaders of the Opposition have made and
lost their reputations in PMQs
• Useful to have a regular opportunity to question the Prime
Minister on topical events
• Not many Heads of Government submit themselves to weekly
questioning by elected representatives

38. So, any questions?