Parliamentary Questions (PQs) are asked for a variety of reasons and form a part of the scrutiny function of Parliament. In the House of Commons a Member of Parliament (MP) may have constituents' concerns to raise, want more information on a topic or may have been asked by a lobby or pressure group to ask questions.
In the House of Commons, an MP will ask a question of the relevant Secretary of State. 'Named Day Questions' are when the MP has asked for a response on a specific day. A Named Day Question must be answered on the day stipulated (on occasion, a holding reply may be necessary but this must be justified to Ministers). For all other questions we have five working days to respond to the MP, therefore deadlines are tight and limited to 2 working days for teams to submit replies.
There are no limits to the number of PQs an MP can table; however MPs cannot table more than 4 Named Day questions a day.
Questions can be transferred between Government Departments, but this has no impact on the timeframe - we still have a 5 day response deadline.
In the House of Lords questions are usually asked because the Peer has an interest and normally a certain level of knowledge in the topic. The questions are asked to Her Majesty's Government, the House of Lords decides which Department should answer the question. We have 10 days to respond to peers' questions, but all answers must first be cleared by a DFID Minister, deadlines are kept deliberately short to enable this.
All PQs will be commissioned through CHAPTER, you should respond using the system. On occasion, a PQ is asked that is very similar to a question that has been asked previously by another MP. We are able to respond to the question by referring back to the previous answer given, if it was first tabled within 3 months. This is known as a 'referral answer'. You should be able to check your Team's record on CHAPTER to look for the previous answer and response.
If the same MP asks two or more questions all of which can be answered in a single reply, it may be possible to group the PQs. In case of doubt, MST should be consulted.
Sometimes it is impossible to provide an answer to a written Parliamentary Question without detailed research and analysis. If a question is liable to cost more than £800 in official time, then a disproportionate cost answer can be given.
Where the same question is asked simultaneously of several Government Departments, Cabinet Office will provide guidance on the response, which all departments must use. This type of response is known as a 'Round Robin'. The same deadline of a 5 day response time applies. If you have any queries please check with MST.The PQ system CHAPTER will note if a question is "sensitive" or is a "Round Robin".
If you do not understand the question please contact MST who can refer to the MP or Cabinet Office for further guidance. Background notes should be used to inform Ministers of relevant information, explanation of why a question has been answered in a particular way or to highlight sensitive issues. Background notes should be used for both Commons and Lords PQs. Please note background notes are not submitted as part of the question reply. However, they can be subject to Freedom of Information (FOI) requests.
1. All PQs, Commons and Lords will be commissioned using CHAPTER to Heads of Department and Deputy Directors, copying in the relevant policy lead. DFID must provide responses to Commons and Lords PQs within the specified deadlines of 5 days for Commons and 10 days for Lords. Named Day Questions may have a tighter deadline. The deadlines will be listed on the CHAPTER system, but Teams are expected to submit replies on the CHAPTER system within 2 working days.Task assigned to: All Staff, Head of Department
2. Let MST know as soon as possible if you believe a Question you have been allocated is for another Government Department Task assigned to: All Staff
3. If the question is for another department within DFID please use the CHAPTER system and follow instructions to assign the PQ to another colleague. The PQ will remain on your system until the person has "accepted" the PQ and assumed ownershipTask assigned to: All Staff
4. A QUEST Template will be issued by CHAPTER for each PQ and this MUST be used for the draft answer. All drafts for Commons and Lords PQs should be written in Arial, Point 12 and in one and a half spacing.Task assigned to: All Staff
5. All acronyms, including DFID, must be spelt out the first time they are used Task assigned to: All Staff
6. PQ drafts must be clear, concise and jargon free Task assigned to: All Staff
7. Answers must be as helpful as possible to the MP/Peer
8. Very simple tables can be given with the answer, these should be formatted in Word but must not include shadingIf you wish to issue a complicated table (Excel) or additional booklet in reply please send this as a separate attachment with a title page and with the wording: 'I have arranged for the document XXX to be placed in the Libraries of the House'. You will need to provide MST with a PDF, excel or word version of the document. You should not refer to documents that have been deposited in the House of Commons without first checking with MST.Task assigned to: All Staff
9. PQs must be cleared on CHAPTER through Deputy Directors, through Heads of Department/Heads of Overseas Offices/Group Leaders. Drafting officials will need to check the relevant box on CHAPTER once they have approval for draft answers. An email of confirmation will then be sent to the approver. Task assigned to: All Staff, Head of Department, Head of Overseas Office
10. Submit all PQs electronically using CHAPTER. There are a number of mandatory fields which need to be completed, but CHAPTER will prompt you if the information is missing. The approver for the PQ will be listed on CHAPTER and an email will be sent to the apporver once a draft has been sent to MST for quality assurance. Task assigned to: All Staff, Head of Department, Head of Overseas Office
11. If the response to the new question is exactly the same as an answer given previously, your reply can refer to the previous answer given, in which case the correct text to use is `I refer the (Hon) member for .... to the reply given to ... on ...... You should use CHAPTER to search for the previous answer and references. Task assigned to: All Staff
12. If it could cost more than £800 worth of staff time to answer a PQ, prepare a background note to Ministers explaining why it has not been possible to provide a full response. Use the standard wording: "It would not be possible to obtain the information required without incurring a disproportionate cost". Task assigned to: All Staff
13. For "Round Robin" questions once guidance has been received from the Cabinet Office, MST will upload the guidance on to CHAPTER attached to the relevant PQ. We do not have any time extension where there is a delay in Cabinet Office issuing Round Robin guidance. Departments should therefore consider whether they can start to prepare an answer, whilst waiting for the guidance.Task assigned to: All Staff
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