Parliamentary Questions

Anne Main
To ask the Leader of the House if he will ensure that all Ministers comply with the Resolution of the House of 18 December 1972 as it applies to the timeliness of answers to parliamentary questions.

Mr. Straw
All Ministers recognise the obligation, deriving from the decisions of the House of 18 December 1972, that a written question tabled for a named day should receive an answer on that day and an ordinary written question should receive a substantive response within a working week of it being tabled. I attach great importance to the timeliness of responses to parliamentary questions tabled in the House and, as I have indicated to the House, I have raised the matter directly with ministerial colleagues.

I also refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Wellingborough (Mr. Bone) on 10 July 2006, Official Report, column 1560W.