Lord Jopling – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Leader of the House of Lords

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Jopling on 2014-03-11.

To ask the Leader of the House what steps he has taken to ensure that Ministers make sure, before signing replies to Questions for Written Answer, that the replies answer the questions which have been put.

Lord Hill of Oareford

It is the responsibility of individual ministers to decide what answers they give to Questions for Written Answer (QWAs), and they are of course accountable to the House for those answers. The importance of this direct accountability is such that I recently decided, following the introduction of a new system for answering QWAs electronically, to require Ministers in this House to continue providing personally signed answers to noble Lords. The Ministerial Code states that “It is of paramount importance that Ministers give accurate and truthful information to Parliament”.