To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many questions tabled for answer on a named day his Department received in each of the last 12 months; and to how many such questions his Department provided a substantive answer on the day named. (305374)

887 parliamentary questions for named day response were tabled to the Home Office between 1 December 2008 and 30 November 2009. 133 of these questions received a substantive answer on the day named. The following table shows the months in which these questions were tabled. Central guidance on answering parliamentary questions is now available in the “Guide to Parliamentary Work”, at:

http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/parliamentary-clerk-guide.aspx

In the response to the Procedure Committee Report on written parliamentary questions, the Government accepted the Committee's recommendation that Departments be required to provide the Procedure Committee with sessional statistics in a standard format on the time taken to respond to written parliamentary questions, accompanied by an explanatory memorandum setting out any factors affecting their performance. This will be taken forward as soon as possible.