§ Mr. Bob Cryer (Bradford, South)On a point of order, Mr. Speaker. I should like to draw the attention of the House to Standing Order No. 17. which deals with the answering of questions.
Standing Order No. 17(7) says that for questions that are given the letter W,
the Minister … shall cause an answer to be so printedon that day. A convention has grown up that Ministers give holding answers. Although holding answers are no longer printed in Hansard, when the substantive answer is given the holding answer date is referred to in brackets. This convention has grown up because we understand that Ministers occasionally require a day or two to gain the necessary information. This occasion is important because there are no other requirements for Ministers to give answers to this place. To delay answers for an inordinate period of time seems to amount to contempt of this place.I draw your attention, Mr. Speaker, to the fact that I asked the Department of Health and Social Security a question for written priority answer on Tuesday 1 December 1987. The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, the hon. Member for Derbyshire, South (Mrs. Currie), gave a holding answer on that date, but I have not yet received a substantive answer.
On Monday 18 January I tabled a further question asking why I had not received a substantive reply to the question that I had tabled for written priority answer on 610 1 December 1987 on the matter of care for the mentally handicapped. I received an apology from the Minister, in which she said that she was sorry that I had
not yet received a substantive reply. It has been necessary to make inquiries to bring up to date the information held centrally. I hope to be able to let him have a reply soon."—[Official Report, 18 January 1988; Vol. 125, c. 579]That was on 18 January. It is now the end of the month, and the original answer was tabled for answer on 1 December. If that were to happen to 30 or 40 hon. Members, I think that one could guarantee a large number of points of order. It seems to me that the Minister is failing in her duty to the House in allowing time pass in this way. I delayed raising the matter in order to allow the Minister plenty of time to come to the House. I have waited until Friday, so I have allowed the Minister a whole week in which she could have placed an answer on the Board.I ask you, Mr. Speaker, to remind the Minister of the requirement that written priority questions shall be answered by a Minister and the strong convention that when a holding answer is given the substantive answer is supplied in as short a time thereafter as possible. That has clearly not happened. The Minister seems to be extremely inefficient and careless of her duties towards the House.
§ Mr. SpeakerI can understand the hon. Member's concern, but it is not a matter for me. The Leader of the House is present, and I am sure that he will have heard arid noted what the hon. Member has said.