To ask the Leader of the House what plans he has to improve the conduct of question time in the House of Lords.

To ask the Leader of the House what plans he has to improve the conduct of question time in the House of Lords.

My Lords, as a self-regulating House, we all have a responsibility to uphold our rules of conduct at question time. The rules on supplementary questions set out in the Companion could not be clearer: no reading and no statements of opinion. Supplementaries,

“should be short and confined to not more than two points”.

My Lords, as a self-regulating House, we all have a responsibility to uphold our rules of conduct at question time. The rules on supplementary questions set out in the Companion could not be clearer: no reading and no statements of opinion. Supplementaries,

“should be short and confined to not more than two points”.

I agree very much with my noble friend that brief questions are to be encouraged: brief questions tend to elicit brief answers. I think that it is incumbent on everyone in the House to make sure that they understand the rules set out in the Companion. I think that over time behaviour sometimes slips. This is a good opportunity to remind ourselves of those principles to which we all say, “Hear, hear,” but which we need to put into action.

I agree very much with my noble friend that brief questions are to be encouraged: brief questions tend to elicit brief answers. I think that it is incumbent on everyone in the House to make sure that they understand the rules set out in the Companion. I think that over time behaviour sometimes slips. This is a good opportunity to remind ourselves of those principles to which we all say, “Hear, hear,” but which we need to put into action.

I will certainly stress the rules to all Members of the House, both Front Bench and Back Bench.

I will certainly stress the rules to all Members of the House, both Front Bench and Back Bench.

I agree that question time provides an important opportunity for Back-Benchers. Noble Lords may be interested to know that, so far this year, 370 Members of your Lordships’ House have asked an oral or a supplementary question. That is an encouragingly large number, although it sometimes feels as though certain Members of the House ask more than that number might suggest. The House at Oral Questions is generally pretty good at working out whose turn it is to ask a question, but I agree with my noble friend that none of us should make an assumption that we automatically have a right to ask a question or a flow of questions from one side of the House.

I agree that question time provides an important opportunity for Back-Benchers. Noble Lords may be interested to know that, so far this year, 370 Members of your Lordships’ House have asked an oral or a supplementary question. That is an encouragingly large number, although it sometimes feels as though certain Members of the House ask more than that number might suggest. The House at Oral Questions is generally pretty good at working out whose turn it is to ask a question, but I agree with my noble friend that none of us should make an assumption that we automatically have a right to ask a question or a flow of questions from one side of the House.

I hope that noble Lords who are regular attenders would agree that the way in which questions move around the House works pretty well. It is worth pointing out that over 50% of noble Lords who are the most frequent askers of questions are from the Labour Benches.

I hope that noble Lords who are regular attenders would agree that the way in which questions move around the House works pretty well. It is worth pointing out that over 50% of noble Lords who are the most frequent askers of questions are from the Labour Benches.

I certainly do not think that we should have jostling and bullying. Most of the time the House operates pretty well and noble Lords give way to other noble Lords and give them a chance. The House wants to hear from a wide range of people. However, I take the point. Sometimes we hear from some noble Lords more frequently than from others—they might all like to reflect on that. I had a thought that might help with that, which I would be happy to discuss with the Clerk of the Parliaments to see whether it is possible. If we could publish more frequently information on the frequency with which some Members ask questions, that might help us to draw the conclusion that we ought to share them out more widely.

I certainly do not think that we should have jostling and bullying. Most of the time the House operates pretty well and noble Lords give way to other noble Lords and give them a chance. The House wants to hear from a wide range of people. However, I take the point. Sometimes we hear from some noble Lords more frequently than from others—they might all like to reflect on that. I had a thought that might help with that, which I would be happy to discuss with the Clerk of the Parliaments to see whether it is possible. If we could publish more frequently information on the frequency with which some Members ask questions, that might help us to draw the conclusion that we ought to share them out more widely.

I agree—and long may that continue.

I agree—and long may that continue.

This House is full of all sorts of Members who are not shy of coming forward and I welcome that.

This House is full of all sorts of Members who are not shy of coming forward and I welcome that.

I disagree with the noble Lord very strongly. The principle of self-regulation that we have in this House is worth fighting for and preserving as strongly as we possibly can—all of us. I would not wish on this House the example provided by the other place. A few years back the House looked at the question of whether we would prefer to have a system here that mirrored more closely that of the other House, with a Speaker. It voted fairly clearly, concluding that it preferred to stick with our current arrangements. However, it is incumbent on all of us who care about self-regulation to make sure that we do it. I do not accept the noble Lord’s characterisation that most of the time it does not work. I think that most of the time it works extremely well.

I disagree with the noble Lord very strongly. The principle of self-regulation that we have in this House is worth fighting for and preserving as strongly as we possibly can—all of us. I would not wish on this House the example provided by the other place. A few years back the House looked at the question of whether we would prefer to have a system here that mirrored more closely that of the other House, with a Speaker. It voted fairly clearly, concluding that it preferred to stick with our current arrangements. However, it is incumbent on all of us who care about self-regulation to make sure that we do it. I do not accept the noble Lord’s characterisation that most of the time it does not work. I think that most of the time it works extremely well.

It is incumbent on all the groups in the House to help to police this and, if they need to, to communicate to some of their members. The point that I make about publishing more information on the number of times people ask questions, and perhaps the number of words that they use, might help to shine a spotlight.

It is incumbent on all the groups in the House to help to police this and, if they need to, to communicate to some of their members. The point that I make about publishing more information on the number of times people ask questions, and perhaps the number of words that they use, might help to shine a spotlight.

To ask the Leader of the House what steps he will take to facilitate the passage of Private Members’ Bills through the House of Lords.[HL290]

To ask the Leader of the House what steps he will take to facilitate the passage of Private Members’ Bills through the House of Lords.[HL290]

Lords report of the Queen's speech; motion for an address and debate (first day).

Lords report of the Queen's speech; motion for an address and debate (first day).

To ask the Leader of the House , in the light of the answers on 6 May to written questions tabled by Lord Mendelsohn, what steps he will take to ensure that the replies to written questions answer the question which was put as fully as possible. [HL6992]

To ask the Leader of the House , in the light of the answers on 6 May to written questions tabled by Lord Mendelsohn, what steps he will take to ensure that the replies to written questions answer the question which was put as fully as possible. [HL6992]

My Lords, the Government attach great importance to providing Members of this House with prompt and accurate replies to their Questions for Written Answer and their correspondence.

My Lords, the Government attach great importance to providing Members of this House with prompt and accurate replies to their Questions for Written Answer and their correspondence.

My Lords, if I had a simple yes or no answer, it would be a lot shorter than the question, if I may say so. The substance of the policy

issue is clearly for departments to determine. So far as promptness and so on is concerned, I very much agree with the noble Lord that we need to have prompt and accurate replies. One of the ways in which we can help with the promptness of correspondence is with the figures that are published every year. The next set is due shortly—I think next week—and will show the performance of individual departments: how good they are at responding within the deadlines they set. I have a particular responsibility to try to make sure that Questions for Written Answer are answered promptly and I have tightened up the way in which we are doing that. I have decided that from the next Session I will follow the practice of the other place and publish, again annually, the performance of departments on their promptness in dealing with QWAs.

My Lords, if I had a simple yes or no answer, it would be a lot shorter than the question, if I may say so. The substance of the policy

issue is clearly for departments to determine. So far as promptness and so on is concerned, I very much agree with the noble Lord that we need to have prompt and accurate replies. One of the ways in which we can help with the promptness of correspondence is with the figures that are published every year. The next set is due shortly—I think next week—and will show the performance of individual departments: how good they are at responding within the deadlines they set. I have a particular responsibility to try to make sure that Questions for Written Answer are answered promptly and I have tightened up the way in which we are doing that. I have decided that from the next Session I will follow the practice of the other place and publish, again annually, the performance of departments on their promptness in dealing with QWAs.

My Lords, one decision that I have taken recently, which I hope my noble friend and other noble Lords will support, is that a new electronic system for dealing with Questions for Written Answer is to be introduced. I have said that, so far as this House is concerned, Ministers will continue to send hard copies to Members and sign them personally. That is important because it speaks to the need for accountability of Ministers in our House. That is right and I am sure that all noble Lords here will support it.

My Lords, one decision that I have taken recently, which I hope my noble friend and other noble Lords will support, is that a new electronic system for dealing with Questions for Written Answer is to be introduced. I have said that, so far as this House is concerned, Ministers will continue to send hard copies to Members and sign them personally. That is important because it speaks to the need for accountability of Ministers in our House. That is right and I am sure that all noble Lords here will support it.

The noble Baroness and I have discussed this specific point before and I know that she is concerned about it. She will know that it is something that the Procedure Committee is looking at. However, on a point of fact regarding the length of the Summer Recess and other recesses, this year the Summer Recess will, I think, be a week longer than it was last year and the same length as it was the year before, and the shorter recesses are the same length as they have been in recent years. So we need to keep that point in context. So far as holding the Government to account is concerned, I agree that that is a vital part of the work that this House does. That is why I am sure that the noble Baroness will welcome the progress that we have made with other reforms in the past year—for instance, increasing by half the number of Questions for Short Debate, which are an excellent way to have Ministers at the Dispatch Box answering on government policy.

The noble Baroness and I have discussed this specific point before and I know that she is concerned about it. She will know that it is something that the Procedure Committee is looking at. However, on a point of fact regarding the length of the Summer Recess and other recesses, this year the Summer Recess will, I think, be a week longer than it was last year and the same length as it was the year before, and the shorter recesses are the same length as they have been in recent years. So we need to keep that point in context. So far as holding the Government to account is concerned, I agree that that is a vital part of the work that this House does. That is why I am sure that the noble Baroness will welcome the progress that we have made with other reforms in the past year—for instance, increasing by half the number of Questions for Short Debate, which are an excellent way to have Ministers at the Dispatch Box answering on government policy.

This is a matter that the House looks at from time to time. It looked at it recently and concluded that the current arrangements are correct. I very much agree about the benefits of our Question Time. My strong feeling about it is that “short and intense” is good: we increase scrutiny by making sure that the questions and answers are short and then we can get more people in.

This is a matter that the House looks at from time to time. It looked at it recently and concluded that the current arrangements are correct. I very much agree about the benefits of our Question Time. My strong feeling about it is that “short and intense” is good: we increase scrutiny by making sure that the questions and answers are short and then we can get more people in.

I cannot say that the Government will be able to manage return of post, although these days return of post is not quite as quick as it was in the days of George Bernard Shaw.

I cannot say that the Government will be able to manage return of post, although these days return of post is not quite as quick as it was in the days of George Bernard Shaw.