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To ask the hon. Member for Blaenau Gwent and Rhymney, representing the House of Commons Commission, whether the House of Commons Table Office uses AI to (a) review or (b) card written Parliamentary Questions.
To ask the hon. Member for Blaenau Gwent and Rhymney, representing the House of Commons Commission, whether the House of Commons Table Office uses AI to (a) review or (b) card written Parliamentary Questions.
In May 2026 a new AI feature was added to EQM, the digital system which is used by the Table Office for the editing and processing of written parliamentary questions. This AI feature assists staff in identifying duplicate questions by finding and listing questions which have been submitted previously where there is 80% or greater level of similarity. Staff are then able to review the questions to assess whether the rules of order relating to questions already answered are engaged.
To ask the hon. Member for Blaenau Gwent and Rhymney, representing the House of Commons Commission, whether the Commission plans to increase staffing levels in the Table Office in response to increases in the number of parliamentary questions.
To ask the hon. Member for Blaenau Gwent and Rhymney, representing the House of Commons Commission, whether the Commission plans to increase staffing levels in the Table Office in response to increases in the number of parliamentary questions.
There are no current plans to increase staffing levels in the Table Office. However, the Chamber and Participation Team keeps under review appropriate staffing levels for the procedural offices, taking account of Member demand and the fact that the House Administration is undertaking a Savings and Improvement Programme.
To ask the hon. Member for Blaenau Gwent and Rhymney, representing the House of Commons Commission, pursuant to the Answer of 26 February 2025 to Question on Table Office: Financing, if the Commission will make an assessment of the potential merits of temporarily increasing staffing levels in the Table Office...
To ask the hon. Member for Blaenau Gwent and Rhymney, representing the House of Commons Commission, pursuant to the Answer of 26 February 2025 to Question on Table Office: Financing, if the Commission will make an assessment of the potential merits of temporarily increasing staffing levels in the Table Office...
The tabling of questions is driven by demand from Members and it is therefore difficult to predict peak periods of activity. The Chamber and Participation Team keeps under review appropriate staffing levels for the procedural offices, taking account of Member demand and the fact that the House Administration is undertaking a Savings and Improvement Programme.
To ask the hon. Member for Blaenau Gwent and Rhymney, representing the House of Commons Commission, pursuant to the Answer of 26 February 2025 to Question 30400 on Table Office: Finance, if the Commission will review the staffing levels for the Table Office, in the context of the number of...
To ask the hon. Member for Blaenau Gwent and Rhymney, representing the House of Commons Commission, pursuant to the Answer of 26 February 2025 to Question 30400 on Table Office: Finance, if the Commission will review the staffing levels for the Table Office, in the context of the number of...
There are currently no plans to review staffing levels for the Table Office. The Chamber and Participation Team keeps under review appropriate staffing levels for the procedural offices, taking account of Member demand but mindful of the fact that the House Administration is undertaking a Savings and Improvement Programme.
To ask the hon. Member for Blaenau Gwent and Rhymney, representing the House of Commons Commission, what steps the Commission is taking to support the work of the House of Commons Table Office; and what assessment the Commission has made of the contribution of that Office in supporting hon. Members...
To ask the hon. Member for Blaenau Gwent and Rhymney, representing the House of Commons Commission, what steps the Commission is taking to support the work of the House of Commons Table Office; and what assessment the Commission has made of the contribution of that Office in supporting hon. Members...
In addition to producing the Order Paper each day and receiving applications for adjournment debates in the House and Westminster Hall, since the beginning of this Parliament, the Table Office has processed nearly 74,000 Questions for Written Answer and over 1,600 Early Day Motions. The Office also carries out the daily “shuffle” for oral questions, and provides the secretariat to the Backbench Business Committee.
The Office is staffed by a team of 16 people, ten of whom process parliamentary questions as part of their wider duties, working on a rota system to provide continuous cover when the House is sitting.
The work of the Office has recently been improved by enhancements to the back end of the MemberHub system, making it easier to find similar or duplicate questions. Further enhancements to the Office’s digital platforms will be delivered later in the year.
Members are required to take responsibility for Questions tabled and I would encourage colleagues to visit the Lower Table Office, directly outside the Chamber, to discuss any queries.
To ask the hon. Member for Blaenau Gwent and Rhymney, representing the House of Commons Commission, if the Table Office will meet the staff of Conservative Members of Parliament to discuss their work.
To ask the hon. Member for Blaenau Gwent and Rhymney, representing the House of Commons Commission, if the Table Office will meet the staff of Conservative Members of Parliament to discuss their work.
While hon. Members alone have the right to table questions, the Table Office routinely deals with Members’ staff, acting with the authority of their Member, about the tabling and drafting of questions, as part of the Office’s responsibility to ensure that questions adhere to the rules of order and practices of the House.
Most issues concerning the drafting of questions are resolved quickly, but where it is not possible to do so with a member of staff, the Table Office will ask to deal directly with the Member concerned. This reflects the fact that responsibility for tabling questions resides with the hon. Member personally and ensures that the Table Office’s resources are used in an effective manner.
To ask the hon. Member for Blaenau Gwent and Rhymney, representing the House of Commons Commission, if the Commission will take steps to reinstate the round-robin feature for tabling written parliamentary questions.
To ask the hon. Member for Blaenau Gwent and Rhymney, representing the House of Commons Commission, if the Commission will take steps to reinstate the round-robin feature for tabling written parliamentary questions.
The round-robin feature was disabled due to processing issues arising from its use. The Table Office is in discussion with the Parliamentary Digital Service about its reinstatement. This would require some technical enhancement and testing before the feature is made available in the live environment.
To ask the hon. Member for Blaenau Gwent and Rhymney, representing the House of Commons Commission, with reference to the oral contribution by the Leader of the House in Business Questions on 6 February 2025, Official Report, column 947 on written parliamentary questions; what steps the Commission is taking to...
To ask the hon. Member for Blaenau Gwent and Rhymney, representing the House of Commons Commission, with reference to the oral contribution by the Leader of the House in Business Questions on 6 February 2025, Official Report, column 947 on written parliamentary questions; what steps the Commission is taking to...
The Table Office has 16 members of staff. There are no plans to review staffing levels at the moment.
Statement on the retirement of Philippa Helme, Principal Clerk of the Table Office.
Statement on the retirement of Philippa Helme, Principal Clerk of the Table Office.
On a point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker. One thing was omitted from the congratulations paid to Philippa Helme by Mr Speaker, and I take this opportunity to congratulate her on her work over the past few years as a trustee of the Industry and Parliament Trust. I happen to...
On a point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker. One thing was omitted from the congratulations paid to Philippa Helme by Mr Speaker, and I take this opportunity to congratulate her on her work over the past few years as a trustee of the Industry and Parliament Trust. I happen to...
In the absence of my hon. Friend the Member for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross (John Thurso), I have been asked to reply.
Members expect that both the Table Office and the Members Library will remain open at least until the rise of the House on sitting days. In the case of the Table Office, the Adjournment of the House at the end of sitting is the point at which no further procedural business can be transacted. Some adjustment has been made recently to opening hours of the Table Office and the Library to reflect the earlier sitting of the House on Tuesdays and Thursdays and the use made of services by Members.
In the absence of my hon. Friend the Member for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross (John Thurso), I have been asked to reply.
Members expect that both the Table Office and the Members Library will remain open at least until the rise of the House on sitting days. In the case of the Table Office, the Adjournment of the House at the end of sitting is the point at which no further procedural business can be transacted. Some adjustment has been made recently to opening hours of the Table Office and the Library to reflect the earlier sitting of the House on Tuesdays and Thursdays and the use made of services by Members.
In the absence of my hon. Friend the Member for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross (John Thurso), I have been asked to reply.
Members expect that both the Table Office and the Members Library will remain open at least until the rise of the House on sitting days. In the case of the Table Office, the Adjournment of the House at the end of sitting is the point at which no further procedural business can be transacted. Some adjustment has been made recently to opening hours of the Table Office and the Library to reflect the earlier sitting of the House on Tuesdays and Thursdays and the use made of services by Members.
I thank the hon. Gentleman for that answer. I recognise the importance of the Table Office staying open until business has finished, for example so that amendments can be laid, but I suggest, as we are trying to save money, that we look again at the Library service’s opening times so that when we have a late moment of interruption on, say, a Monday, we do not have Library staff here until 1 o’clock in the morning, as frankly that is unnecessary and more office hours would be appropriate?
I thank the hon. Gentleman for that answer. I recognise the importance of the Table Office staying open until business has finished, for example so that amendments can be laid, but I suggest, as we are trying to save money, that we look again at the Library service’s opening times so that when we have a late moment of interruption on, say, a Monday, we do not have Library staff here until 1 o’clock in the morning, as frankly that is unnecessary and more office hours would be appropriate?
I think that Library staff who are on duty are working on other matters, because Members phone in with questions and all the rest of it. The present arrangements were agreed by the Administration Committee after a study of last year’s changes to the House’s sitting hours. If the hon. Lady wants to take the matter to the Committee to look at again, I am sure that its Chair, who is sitting next to her, will be happy to listen.
I think that Library staff who are on duty are working on other matters, because Members phone in with questions and all the rest of it. The present arrangements were agreed by the Administration Committee after a study of last year’s changes to the House’s sitting hours. If the hon. Lady wants to take the matter to the Committee to look at again, I am sure that its Chair, who is sitting next to her, will be happy to listen.
I think that Library staff who are on duty are working on other matters, because Members phone in with questions and all the rest of it. The present arrangements were agreed by the Administration Committee after a study of last year’s changes to the House’s sitting hours. If the hon. Lady wants to take the matter to the Committee to look at again, I am sure that its Chair, who is sitting next to her, will be happy to listen.
I thank the hon. Gentleman for that answer. I recognise the importance of the Table Office staying open until business has finished, for example so that amendments can be laid, but I suggest, as we are trying to save money, that we look again at the Library service’s opening times so that when we have a late moment of interruption on, say, a Monday, we do not have Library staff here until 1 o’clock in the morning, as frankly that is unnecessary and more office hours would be appropriate?
To ask the hon. Member for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross, representing the House of Commons Commission, what steps the House authorities have taken to encourage early tabling of written parliamentary questions to assist the Table Office with its daily workload.
[139232]
To ask the hon. Member for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross, representing the House of Commons Commission, what steps the House authorities have taken to encourage early tabling of written parliamentary questions to assist the Table Office with its daily workload.
[139232]
The Procedure Committee proposed a cut-off time for e-tabling in its Third Report of 2008-09, on the grounds that
“action must be taken to smooth the workload of the Table Office and ensure that each and every question receives the most thorough consideration”.
This proposal was agreed by the House, and there is a cut-off of 6.30 pm (or the rising of the House if earlier) on Mondays to Wednesdays. This has helped smooth the workflow in the Table Office.
I have invited the Principal Clerk of the Table Office to consider what other steps could be taken to encourage the tabling of questions earlier in the day. He would be happy to discuss this issue further with the hon. Gentleman.
To ask the hon. Member for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross, representing the House of Commons Commission, how many full-time Clerks have been employed in the Table Office in each year for which figures are available.
[127219]
To ask the hon. Member for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross, representing the House of Commons Commission, how many full-time Clerks have been employed in the Table Office in each year for which figures are available.
[127219]
The Table Office came into existence during the 1939-45 war and was certainly an established phenomenon by the time the House returned to the rebuilt Commons Chamber in 1951. There appear to have been four full-time Clerks employed in the Table Office from the time it became formally established. The number of full-time Clerks was increased to five in 2002 in response to a growing number of PQs tabled. In October 2006 the Office's staff of Clerks was increased to six. Since that date the number has fluctuated between five and six full-time equivalents, rising to a peak of 6.3 full-time equivalents between March and June 2012.
Some regular additional assistance in the evenings is provided to the Office by Clerks assigned to posts in the Committee Office.
Speaker's statement on the title of an Early Day motion tabled by Sir Gerald Kaufman and the resolution of disputes with the Table Office.
Speaker's statement on the title of an Early Day motion tabled by Sir Gerald Kaufman and the resolution of disputes with the Table Office.
I have a short statement to make. Yesterday a point of order was raised by the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton (Sir Gerald Kaufman) about the title of his proposed early-day motion. The Second Deputy Chairman of Ways and Means, who was in the Chair, undertook to look into...
I have a short statement to make. Yesterday a point of order was raised by the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton (Sir Gerald Kaufman) about the title of his proposed early-day motion. The Second Deputy Chairman of Ways and Means, who was in the Chair, undertook to look into...