Parliamentary questions in the House of Commons

1. Judith Boyce, Senior Clerk, Table Office
April 2016
Parliamentary Questions in the
House of Commons

2. 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

3. Table Office

4. 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?

5. 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

8. 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

9. 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

10. Insider knowledge…
• “If s/he will…” indicates a press for action
• “Estimate” or “assessment”
• “What representations s/he has received
on…”
• “…and if s/he will make a statement”
• Pattern of answering is very important, esp.
for Departmental responsibility and what
information Departments make available
• Fuller answers may forestall further questions