§ Mr. Nicholas Ridley (Cirencester and Tewkesbury)Mr. Speaker, may I raise with you a point of order on a different matter? On 6th July I put down a Question to the Prime Minister on the subject of redeployment and unemployment which was for answer on 27th July, which was 21 days later. I received notice yesterday, 20th July, that it had been transferred. That was after a period of 14 days.
May I ask whether there is any way in which the House can insist upon transfers being made at an earlier stage, because the effect of this is that it is now not possible for me to put a Question to the Prime Minister on this important subject of mounting unemployment because there is now no time left? Had the Question been transferred immediately, it might have been possible for me to rephrase it or in some way arrange it so that the Prime Minister would answer it. But because of the long delay I have been thwarted, so to speak, in that opportunity.
Is there any way in which the House can ask that if Questions are to be transferred—I know that this is a matter for the Government—they should be transferred within a limited period of time in advance?
§ Mr. SpeakerI would hope that points about Questions would usually be raised just at the end of Question Time, which is a convenient moment. I am not unsympathetic to the point which the hon. Member has raised. I have no power, of course, to interfere with the transferring of Questions from Minister to Minister, but I would express the hope, which has been expressed from the Chair before, that if Ministers transfer questions that have been put to them to another Minister they will let hon. Gentlemen know as soon as possible.