§ Mr. Peter Bruinvelsasked the Secretary of State for Defence how many and what percentage of the questions set down on the Order Paper for priority written answer by him in (a) Session 1983–84 and (b) the current Session to date have initially received a holding reply.
§ Mr. HeseltineOver 1,000 questions have been set down on the Order Paper for priority written answer by me in each of the Sessions referred to by my hon. Friend. Because of the number of questions involved and the way in which departmental records are maintained, I regret that this information could only be provided at disproportionate effort and cost.
§ Mr. Peter Bruinvelsasked the Secretary of State for Defence how many parliamentary questions have been answered by Ministers in his Department in each of the last three complete Sessions, and the current Session to date; if he will break these figures down into questions tabled as oral questions, priority written questions and ordinary written questions, respectively; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. HeseltineThe information requested, which has been compiled from Departmental statistics, is as follows:
Session Total No Questions *Oral †Priority Written †Ordinary Written 1984–85 (to 24 May 1985) 1,852 326 1,024 502 1983–84 2,278 365 1,267 646 1982–83 1,430 306 749 375 1981–82 1,630 360 715 555 * Includes questions which, although tabled for oral answer, received a written reply. † Includes questions originally tabled to other Departments which were subsequently transferred to the Ministry of Defence.