Select Committee on Procedure Third Report

ANNEX B

ANALYSIS OF RESPONSES FROM MEMBERS TO

QUESTIONNAIRE ABOUT PARLIAMENTARY QUESTIONS

Number of Responses

	Overall	by party				by date of election
	figures	Lab	Con	LD	Other	pre-1997	1997	2001
Responses	166	81	62	18	4	73	63	29

Note: One response was anonymous and therefore does not appear in the breakdowns by party or by date of election. Figures for members elected in 1997 and 2001 include members elected in by-elections during the Parliaments beginning in those years.

All remaining figures in this analysis are percentages. Where a column does not sum to 100%, this is because not all Members answered the question.

A. General

Q2: How effective do you think the system of oral and written questions is in bringing information into the public domain, contributing to political debate, and holding the Executive to account?

(a) oral questions:

	Overall	by party				by date of election
	%	Lab	Con	LD	Other	pre-1997	1997	2001
Very effective	10	14	6	6	0	8	10	14
Quite effective	33	33	35	17	25	32	38	21
Variable	20	19	18	33	25	15	24	24
Not very effective	24	23	24	28	25	29	19	24
Not at all effective	9	5	13	11	25	14	5	7

(b) written questions:

	Overall	by party				by date of election
	%	Lab	Con	LD	Other	pre-1997	1997	2001
Very effective	18	21	16	17	0	22	17	10
Quite effective	42	42	39	50	50	44	44	31
Variable	15	16	13	17	25	14	17	14
Not very effective	16	16	16	6	25	12	16	21
Not at all effective	5	0	13	0	0	5	2	10

Q3a: How often in an average week do you table oral questions?

	Overall	by party				by date of election
	%	Lab	Con	LD	Other	pre-1997	1997	2001
0/occasionally	7	4	*13	6	0	13	2	3
1 (or 1-2)	19	19	11	39	75	22	21	3
2 (or 2-3)	21	20	20	23	25	11	26	20
3 (or 3-4)	24	24	26	29	0	22	21	40
4	10	11	11	0	0	10	6	17
daily	10	10	8	6	0	5	14	7

["Daily" could be taken as equivalent to "4" as oral questions are normally taken on four days in each week.] * includes 5% "Shadow Cabinet"

Q3b: How often in an average week do you table written questions?

	Overall	by party				by date of election
	%	Lab	Con	LD	Other	pre-1997	1997	2001
0/occasionally	9	11	8	0	0	4	14	6
1 (or 1-2)	18	20	26	6	25	20	19	7
2 (or 2-3)	17	17	16	28	50	16	20	10
3 (or 3-4)	8	6	8	17	0	8	5	17
4 (or 4-5)	7	7	7	6	0	4	3	10
5/daily	10	6	16	6	0	9	11	7
6-10	10	8	10	17	0	9	5	16
11-20	6	2	9	6	0	3	6	6

B. Government responsibilities and the content of questions/answers

Q4: Could the Government do anything further to clarify areas of departmental responsibility to assist Members in their tabling of questions?

	Overall	by party				by date of election
	%	Lab	Con	LD	Other	pre-1997	1997	2001
Yes	40	36	42	50	50	40	41	38
No	34	36	34	28	25	36	30	38

Q5: Are you satisfied with the current system of transfers between departments?

	Overall	by party				by date of election
	%	Lab	Con	LD	Other	pre-1997	1997	2001
Yes	51	52	45	67	50	48	51	59
No	37	32	45	28	50	47	30	28

Q6a: In your view, are the current rules governing content of questions reasonable?

	Overall	by party				by date of election
	%	Lab	Con	LD	Other	pre-1997	1997	2001
Yes	46	46	45	50	50	49	46	38
No	42	41	45	39	50	44	44	34

Q6b: How satisfied are you with the speed of answers to written questions?

	Overall	by party				by date of election
	%	Lab	Con	LD	Other	pre-1997	1997	2001
Very	6	12	0	0	0	4	6	10
Quite	38	47	24	44	25	33	48	28
No opinion/variable	7	9	2	17	0	8	5	7
Dissatisfied	35	25	48	33	50	37	29	45
Very dissatisfied	10	2	21	6	25	14	8	7

Q6c: How satisfied are you with the quality of answers to written questions?

	Overall	by party				by date of election
	%	Lab	Con	LD	Other	pre-1997	1997	2001
Very	2	1	2	6	0	3	0	3
Quite	19	19	16	28	0	16	25	7
No opinion	36	37	27	44	100	41	37	21
Dissatisfied	18	17	23	11	0	16	14	31
Very dissatisfied	10	7	16	0	0	11	8	10

C. Timing and topicality

Q7a: Should the current deadlines for tabling oral questions be reduced or abolished, in order to allow for more topical questions?

	Overall	by party				by date of election
	%	Lab	Con	LD	Other	pre-1997	1997	2001
Yes	73	69	74	89	50	67	71	90
No	24	28	23	6	50	30	24	10

Q7b: The present rules require that, in order to be admissible, an oral question to a departmental Minister should be so worded as to indicate, within reasonably broad limits, a particular subject matter. Would you support a change to allow 'open' questions to departmental ministers?

	Overall	by party				by date of election
	%	Lab	Con	LD	Other	pre-1997	1997	2001
Yes	44	35	52	56	75	44	43	48
No	51	58	45	44	25	55	48	48

Q7c: Should the timing and format of Question Time in the House be changed?

	Overall	by party				by date of election
	%	Lab	Con	LD	Other	pre-1997	1997	2001
Yes	50	53	35	78	100	51	49	52
No	40	38	50	22	0	42	41	31

Q8: Would you support a change in the rules to allow questions to be answered during part of the summer recess?

	Overall	by party				by date of election
	%	Lab	Con	LD	Other	pre-1997	1997	2001
Yes	89	89	87	100	100	86	94	90
No	10	11	11	0	0	14	5	10

Q9: Is the current distinction between named day (formerly 'priority') written questions and ordinary written questions useful?

	Overall	by party				by date of election
	%	Lab	Con	LD	Other	pre-1997	1997	2001
Yes	47	49	45	39	75	52	48	34
No	45	40	47	61	25	44	38	59

D. Electronic tabling

Q10a: Would you support a system of tabling questions by e-mail?

	Overall	by party				by date of election
	%	Lab	Con	LD	Other	pre-1997	1997	2001
Yes	74	86	55	89	75	67	81	79
No	24	12	42	11	25	30	19	17

Q10b: Would you personally make use of such a facility?

	Overall	by party				by date of election
	%	Lab	Con	LD	Other	pre-1997	1997	2001
Yes	75	85	58	89	100	68	81	83
No	22	14	37	6	0	27	17	14

Q10c: If so, how often?

	Overall	by party				by date of election
	%	Lab	Con	LD	Other	pre-1997	1997	2001
not at all	1	0	2	0	0	1	0	0
rarely	1	0	2	0	0	1	0	0
1-2	6	7	2	11	25	4	8	7
2-3	1	1	0	6	0	0	0	7
3 or more	13	20	5	11	25	10	21	7
half	1	1	0	0	0	0	2	0
often	22	25	21	22	0	22	16	38
same	4	4	3	6	25	5	3	3
variable	4	5	3	6	0	5	3	3
recess/weekend	1	1	2	0	0	3	0	0
all written	1	1	0	0	0	0	2	0
all	2	4	0	6	0	3	3	0

Q11: Should any system of electronic tabling be extended to cover Early Day Motions and other motions as well?

	Overall	by party				by date of election
	%	Lab	Con	LD	Other	pre-1997	1997	2001
Yes	70	85	48	83	75	62	79	76
No	25	12	45	7	25	36	17	17

E. Members' personal responsibility for Questions

Q12: Is the requirement that oral questions can only be tabled by a Member in person (or another Member acting on his or her behalf) justified?

	Overall	by party				by date of election
	%	Lab	Con	LD	Other	pre-1997	1997	2001
Yes	60	49	76	56	50	63	54	66
No	39	51	21	44	50	36	46	31

Q13a: How frequently do you receive requests from outside organisations or lobbying groups that you should table questions on their behalf?

	Overall	by party				by date of election
	%	Lab	Con	LD	Other	pre-1997	1997	2001
Several times a week	7	7	6	6	25	10	3	10
Once a week	12	14	6	17	25	12	13	7
Once a month	10	12	5	22	0	11	10	10
Occasionally/varies	57	53	61	56	50	52	63	52
Never	13	12	19	0	0	14	10	21

Q13b: How often do you accede to such requests?

	Overall	by party				by date of election
	%	Lab	Con	LD	Other	pre-1997	1997	2001
Several times a week	1	1	0	6	0	1	2	0
Once a week	3	2	0	17	0	1	7	0
Once a month	7	9	3	11	0	7	6	7
Occasionally/varies	62	62	61	61	100	67	63	48
Never	23	21	31	6	0	22	17	34

Q13c: How often do you receive similar requests from your own whips or party advisers?

	Overall	by party				by date of election
	%	Lab	Con	LD	Other	pre-1997	1997	2001
Several times a week	14	10	18	22	0	14	11	21
Once a week	16	22	13	6	0	7	19	34
Once a month	4	6	3	0	0	4	5	3
Occasionally/varies	40	36	42	56	25	42	44	24
Never	21	21	19	17	75	32	14	10

Q13d: How often do you accede to such requests?

	Overall	by party				by date of election
	%	Lab	Con	LD	Other	pre-1997	1997	2001
Several times a week	5	1	10	6	0	1	5	14
Once a week	8	10	8	6	0	3	8	24
Once a month	4	6	2	0	0	1	6	3
Occasionally/varies	52	53	48	61	25	56	54	34
Never	20	20	21	22	25	30	14	10

Q14a: To what extent are your staff involved in preparing questions?

	Overall	by party				by date of election
	%	Lab	Con	LD	Other	pre-1997	1997	2001
Are	67	67	60	89	100	68	67	66
Are not	32	33	37	11	0	30	32	34

Q14b: Would it be helpful for the House authorities to offer some form of training in the questions system for Members' staff?

	Overall	by party				by date of election
	%	Lab	Con	LD	Other	pre-1997	1997	2001
Yes	68	74	50	100	100	60	77	69
No	25	21	39	0	0	36	15	21

F. Table Office services

Q15a: Are there any particular improvements you would like to see to the service offered by the Table Office?

	Overall	by party				by date of election
	%	Lab	Con	LD	Other	pre-1997	1997	2001
Yes	34	36	29	56	0	36	35	31
No	31	31	39	11	25	34	30	28

Q16a: Are you aware that it is possible for the Table Office to communicate with you by pager?

	Overall	by party				by date of election
	%	Lab	Con	LD	Other	pre-1997	1997	2001
Yes	18	20	20	6	25	20	19	14
No	80	78	80	94	75	77	81	86

Q16b: Have you made use of this opportunity?

	Overall	by party				by date of election
	%	Lab	Con	LD	Other	pre-1997	1997	2001
Yes	6	5	8	0	0	6	6	3
No	84	85	79	94	100	83	81	93

Q16c: Do you think it is a useful facility?

	Overall	by party				by date of election
	%	Lab	Con	LD	Other	pre-1997	1997	2001
Yes	67	63	64	100	100	61	77	66
No	15	15	20	0	0	21	8	14

Q17: Could the current question forms be redesigned to make them clearer and more helpful to Members?

	Overall	by party				by date of election
	%	Lab	Con	LD	Other	pre-1997	1997	2001
Yes	9	10	5	12	25	6	10	14
No	70	61	84	65	50	80	60	66

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Prepared 26 June 2002