Annex
ELECTRONIC TABLING OF PARLIAMENTARY QUESTIONS
The committee may be aware that a pilot study
on the submission of electronic parliamentary questions was conducted
by the Cabinet Office in recent months. We are in favour of the
continuation of such experimentation and can see no objection,
either in principle or practice, to MPs being allowed to put down
questions via e-mail, as long as clear standards and procedures
are established.
The Prime Minister has appointed a new Cabinet
committee on e-democracy, to be headed by the Leader of the House.
It is well known that the Government intends to launch a consultation
on e-democracy in the new year, part of which will consider ways
of "making representation work better." It is important
for Parliament to engage in this dialogue; it could well be that
a modernised PQ process, involving the shared use of the latest
digital technologies by both parliamentarians and Government,
could be a component of the package that emerges from this consultation,
especially if the Procedures Committee favours this in principle.
Dr Stephen Coleman
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