Oral question asked in the House of Lords, by Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer (Liberal Democrat). It was answered by Baroness Ashton of Upholland (Labour) on Monday, 12 May 2008.

Questions for Written Answer

Question: Whether they evaluate the quality of Written Answers in the House of Lords; and whether they have established any variation in quality between departments.

Answer: My Lords, under the terms of the Ministerial Code, Ministers are directly accountable to Parliament for the accuracy and relevance of their Answers to Parliamentary Questions. Ministers take their duties to Parliament seriously and ensure as much as possible that Answers are informative, helpful and timely. To try to evaluate the quality of Answers across departments would cut across that direct accountability of Ministers to Parliament.

Secondary information