32. Miss Wardasked the Home Secretary whether he will set up machinery whereby urgent questions of Civil Defence which, for obvious reasons cannot be placed on the Order Paper, will be answered privately within two days?
§ Sir J. AndersonI am always anxious that any questions that may appropriately be addressed to me privately on matters of Civil Defence should be answered with all possible expedition, but I cannot undertake that they shall necessarily be answered within two days as suggested. The time required to furnish an answer, or at all events an adequate reply, must clearly depend on the issues involved and the possible need for investigation.
Miss WardWhile appreciating the courtesy of my right hon. Friend, may I ask whether he has not misinterpreted or misunderstood my question, which was to ask whether questions which would normally be replied to within two days could be replied to privately behind the scenes?
§ Sir J. AndersonThat question goes a good way beyond my Department.
§ Mr. ThorneIf when a starred question is put on the Paper the Minister can give an answer in two days, why cannot that be done when it is an unstarred question?
§ Sir J. AndersonThat is not the point of the question. Of course an answer of a sort could be given within two days, but the questions one gets in letters frequently involve a good deal of investigation.
Miss WardIs the right hon. Gentleman suggesting that the answers given by Ministers to questions put on the Order Paper are inadequate?
§ Sir J. AndersonThe fact must be accepted that priority is given to questions put on the Order Paper, and that their number is subject to certain clearly understood limits.