Leader of the House

The Leader of the House was asked—

Parliamentary Questions

Mr. David Jones (Clwyd, West) (Con)
25. What assessment she has made of the completeness of information given in answers to parliamentary questions.

The Deputy Leader of the House of Commons (Helen Goodman)
As I have stated in the past, the Leader of the House keeps the quality of Ministers’ answers to written parliamentary questions under continuous review.

Mr. Jones
On the assumption that every Whitehall Department has now abandoned the traffic light system that was formerly used to filter out embarrassing questions, will the hon. Lady confirm that she will use her good offices to urge the Treasury to provide me with an unambiguous answer to questions that I have tabled today about the use of No. 11 Downing street by charities, including the Smith Institute, rather than the obfuscatory ones that I have received hitherto?

Helen Goodman
As the hon. Gentleman is aware, all Ministers understand the importance of answering parliamentary questions fully, truthfully and in a timely manner. He has only just tabled those questions, so I am sure that he can expect an answer in accordance with the usual timetable.

Mr. Shailesh Vara (North-West Cambridgeshire) (Con)
As regards answers to questions put by Members of Parliament, the House will be aware that it is Government policy to have more out-of-hours GP services. However, when I tabled a written question to the Secretary of State for Health on the number of GPs who operate the service, I was told that that information was not collected centrally. The Government must have the information centrally in order to have made their policy in the first place, so will the hon. Lady urge the Secretary of State for Health to provide the relevant information, or alternatively will she confirm that the policy was made on the hoof without any supporting evidence?

Helen Goodman
Obviously, the hon. Gentleman is aware that questions can be answered only within certain cost limits. However, I undertake to get in touch with the Secretary of State for Health and raise the hon. Gentleman’s concerns.

Simon Hughes (North Southwark and Bermondsey) (LD)
Will the Deputy Leader of the House talk to the Leader of the House to see whether we could have a much more efficient system to monitor, check, report back on and improve the quality of written answers? I suggest that either the Modernisation Committee or a sub-committee, on a cross-party basis, could do quarterly reports on what the standards should be and whether they are met.

Helen Goodman
The hon. Gentleman is aware that we are waiting for a report on written questions from the Procedure Committee. It will be more appropriate for us to consider the issue that he has raised when we have received that report.

Mr. Simon Burns (West Chelmsford) (Con)
Is the hon. Lady aware that many hon. Members believe that if they table difficult questions for the Government, the Government respond to the question that they wish they had been asked, rather than the one that actually was asked? Will she confirm that in the folder with the answers for written questions is a note from the permanent secretary reminding Ministers that the answers have to be factually correct, fit the requirements of the question and be produced swiftly? That was the practice during the Major Government.

Helen Goodman
As I explained in my previous answer, the 1997 parliamentary resolution on ministerial accountability was incorporated into the ministerial code. It is absolutely specific:

“Ministers have a duty to Parliament to account, and be held to account, for the policies, decisions and actions of their Departments and…Agencies”.

Oral Statements

Mr. Adam Holloway (Gravesham) (Con)
26. What the criteria are for deciding to announce Government policy by means of an oral statement; and if she will make a statement.

The Deputy Leader of the House of Commons (Helen Goodman)
In deciding whether to make an oral statement to announce Government policy, the Government will take into account the importance of the issue and the other business before the House.

Mr. Holloway
Has the Deputy Leader of the House or the Leader of the House ever had cause to speak to the Home Secretary, since she entered the Cabinet, to discuss the methods employed by the Home Office to announce policies?

Helen Goodman
We do discuss with Ministers how oral statements are made, to ensure that the House is kept properly informed of policy developments.

Mr. Chris Mullin (Sunderland, South) (Lab)
If my hon. Friend is talking to Ministers about statements, she could emphasise to them that they are better made in the House than on the “Today” programme.

Helen Goodman
My hon. Friend is absolutely right. I do not know whether he is aware of the fact that in the 70 sitting days of this Session, there have been 39 oral statements, and that we gave notice of 20 of those. That means that 20 were flagged up on the Order Paper. Obviously, that leads to media stories and speculation, which are clearly outside the Government’s control.