§ John ThursoTo ask the Deputy Prime Minister (1) how many(a) Ordinary Written and (b) Named Day 332W Questions his Department received in (i) 2002–03 and (ii) this parliamentary session, broken down by month; [171187]
(2) what proportion of Ordinary Written Questions to his Department were answered within five sitting days of tabling, and what proportion of Questions for a Written Answer on a named day received a substantive answer on that day, in (a) the 2002–03 parliamentary session and (b) this parliamentary session, broken down by month. [171188]
§ Yvette CooperI refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my right hon. Friend the Leader of the House on 3 March 2004,Official Report, column 907W. The effective handling of parliamentary questions is an issue to which my right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister and ministerial colleagues attach great importance, endeavouring to reply to all Parliamentary Questions within Parliamentary deadlines wherever possible.
The information requested is tabled as follows:
Number of named day PQs tabled to ODPM Number of named day PQs answered on time (percentage) Number of ordinary written PQs tabled to ODPM Number of ordinary written PQs answered within five working days (percentage) Parliamentary Session 2002–03 November 20021 85 84.7 245 88.2 December 2002 60 91.7 155 87.1 January 2003 71 90.1 237 65 February 2003 27 85.2 253 63.2 March 2003 53 84.9 258 63.2 April 2003 21 95.2 176 61.4 May 2003 34 88.2 234 56.4 June 2003 27 74.1 253 73.1 July 2003 32 84.4 201 82.6 September 2003 16 31.3 115 58.3 October 2003 34 88.2 170 88.2 November 20032 25 96 135 68.9 Parliamentary Session 2003–04 November 20033 11 100 38 86.8 December 2003 32 90.6 232 72.4 January 2004 105 73.3 393 85.5 February 2004 51 96.1 267 67 March 2004 75 90.7 320 72.5 April 2004 28 92.9 178 86.5 1 13 November to 30 November 2002. 2 1 November to 12 November 2003. 3 26 November to 30 November 2003.