§ Lord Jenkins of Putneyasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether the practice of answering questions by reference to previous answers does not make the Official Report difficult to read and whether in future when this is done they will repeat the previous Question and Answer.
§ The Lord Privy Seal (Lord Wakeham)The practice to which the noble Lord refers is well established in both Houses when Ministers are responding to Questions which are substantially similar or identical to previous Written Questions. I am not aware that this practice has caused difficulty in the past; and the repetition of previous Questions and Answers would add both to the cost of preparing the Answer and of producing theOfficial Report.