To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the Written Answer by Baroness Crawley on 27 October (WA 141), whether the Prime Minister was informed of the fact that the Cabinet Office did not answer the Question for Written Answer tabled by Lord Lester of Herne Hill (HL4634) until 27 October; and which parts of the Answer caused it to be delayed for 17 weeks. [HL6120]

It is not the Government’s practice to release details of internal discussions and advice.

To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the Written Answers by Baroness Royall of Blaisdon on 28 October (WA 162), since when Questions for Written Answer on the Public Prosecution Service for Northern Ireland have been passed to the Director of Public Prosecutions for reply, rather than answered by Ministers; and whether they will arrange for his replies to be published in the Official Report. [HL6251]

As part of an internal review of communications (which took place in mid-2008), Ministers decided that any Question tabled on the Public Prosecution Service that concerns operational matters should be passed to the Director of Public Prosecutions for reply. The Public Prosecution Service is operationally independent of government, so it is more appropriate that the director responds on operational matters.

To date, only six Questions have been referred to the body in this way. A copy of each response from the director is placed in the Library of the House.