§ Mr. Dudley Smithasked the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what percentage rise in parliamentary questions, written and oral, there has been since parliamentary research assistants were introduced for hon. Members.
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§ Mr. St. John-StevasPublic funds were made available to provide research assistance for hon. Members on 1 January 1972. The average number of questions tabled on each sitting day in each Session from 1971–72 is as follows:
Session Oral Written 1971–72 84 82 1972–73 57 101 1973–74 51 103 1974 51 139 1974–75 48 141 1975–76 54 168 1976–77 50 164 1977–78 53 170 1978–79 55 153 1979–80 (to date) 37 150 At the beginning of Session 1972–73 the daily ration for oral questions was reduced from three to two, and Members were debarred from tabling more than one question for oral answer to the same Minister on the same day. This inevitably changed the balance as between oral and written questions, and 1972–73 has therefore been taken instead of 1971–72 as the point of comparison with the present Session. As between Session 1972–73 and the present, the number of oral questions tabled per day has fallen by 54 per cent., while the number of written questions has risen by 49 per cent.