§ Mr. R. MORRISONMay I ask, Mr. Speaker, if you would be good enough to make a statement upon a matter of interest to some Members of this Rouse? You will remember that, a few months ago, repeated complaints were made about Members of all parties in the House putting down questions asking for information upon subjects that had already been dealt with by question in the House, and repeating questions that had already been asked; and that, as a result of those complaints, you made an announcement, some months ago, that you had arranged for the keeping, in the Library, of a register of questions, so as 1387 to avoid the necessity of Members asking questions and getting answers that had previously been asked or given. On inquiry the other day, I discovered that it has now been decided, for some reason or other, to discontinue that register of questions in the Library, and the question I desire to ask you is, whether you are aware that the keeping of a register of questions in the Library of the House for the convenience of Members has been discontinued, and whether you will be good enough to state the reason for this action?
§ Mr. SPEAKERIn response to requests that were made, I gave instructions, for an experimental period, for an index of questions to be kept. I am sorry to say that the use made of it by Members had very little relation to the cost of keeping it. At the end of 10 Parliamentary weeks I found that the maximum number of inquiries in any one week was 21; the average was only 15 in a week, that is three per day; and the cost was £150 per annum. I did not feel justified, in those circumstances, in proceeding further with the experiment.
§ Sir WILLIAM DAVISONDo you think, Sir, that the Members of the House were generally aware that such an index was being kept, and was accessible to them? Personally I was not aware of the keeping of such an index.
§ Mr. SPEAKERI took the trouble, in a full House, to give notice of it, and I made a special request to hon. Members to use it. I did my best to make it useful.
§ Mr. SPENCERWhat relation does the £150 bear to the cost of repeatedly putting questions?
§ Mr. SPEAKERThat is not a matter that can be accurately assessed. It is true there is a cost involved in hon. Members repeating questions already answered. I do not think it could amount to £150 per annum, but the trouble is that the keeping of this index did not prevent repetition.
§ Mr. SPENCERWe have been informed that it costs £1 to answer a question. I do not know if there is any truth in that or not.
Mr. BECKETTWhat are the powers of the Chair and the Table with regard to questions which have been asked? Is the decision as to whether a question is the same as has been asked before, and therefore cannot be accepted, in your hands?
§ Mr. SPEAKERNeither the gentleman at the Table nor the occupant of the Chair has a complete memory which will cover everything. As far as possible, we try to inform a Member when he desires to put a question that has already been answered, but there are a good many oversights, as may be judged by answers given by Ministers.
Mr. BECKETTThe point I wished to make was that I had submitted questions, and been told they had been answered, and though I could find no record of them, I have not been able to get them through.
§ Mr. SPEAKERThat shows that the scrutiny is fairly good.
§ Lieut.-Commander KENWORTHYOn the subject of the Register of Questions, I am a pretty considerable sinner in the way of putting questions. I was quite unaware of this register. I should like to submit, on behalf of some of my hon. Friends as well, that such a register was not known to us, and it would be very useful indeed, and could you give it a further period of trial?
§ Mr. SPEAKERReally the experiment had a fair trial. I have not thought it right to include the £150 in my Estimate for next year.
Captain ARTHUR EVANSCould not the Liberal party grant a sum of £150 from the Million Fund for this purpose?