Oral question asked in the House of Commons, by Fiona Mactaggart (Labour). It was answered on Monday, 2 July 2007 on behalf of the Leader of the House of Commons.

Public Engagement (Debates)

Question: I warmly welcome my right hon. Friend to her new post; it is great to see a moderniser in this role. One of the barriers to public engagement with this place is our Order of Business. It is obscure, to put it politely. In her new role, will she try to create a plain English, simple version of what happens here, so that citizens can know what we are talking about and seek to influence it?

Answer: I thank my hon. Friend for her kind welcome to me in my new position. I very much agree with her comments about the Order Paper. However, it is not just members of the public who find our procedures and the Order Paper baffling; some Members of Parliament—even quite long-standing Members of Parliament—could be forgiven for not understanding them. We have to move to plain English, which is why, when publishing the draft Bill on reform of the coroners system, I made sure that we had the legalese on one side of the page and plain English on the other, and we can make progress on a number of documents in that way. It is not only the public who do not understand; many of us do not either.

Secondary information

Type: Oral question
Reference: 462 c666
Session: 2006-07
Oral question type: Supplementary
Chamber / Committee: House of Commons chamber
Subjects: House of Commons Parliamentary procedure Politics and government Modernisation Reform Order of business Debates
Link: View this Oral question on www.publications.parliament.uk