§ Mr. Peter Bruinvelsasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science 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.
§ Sir Keith JosephThe information requested is as follows:
Session Number Percentage 1983–84 18* 2.4 1984–85† 29 6 *Best estimate based on the information readily available. †Up to and including 24 May.
§ Mr. Peter Bruinvelsasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science 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.
§ Sir Keith JosephThe information requested is as follows:30W
Parliamentary Questions Session Oral Priority Written Ordinary Written Total 1981–82* 456 596 518 1,570 1982–83* 328 370 322 1,020 1983–84 603 750 779 2,132 1984–85† 343 483 437 1,26 * In the Sessions 1981–82 and 1982–83 the Office of Arts and Libraries (OAL) was part of the Department of Education and Science. Parliamentary questions on the arts were tabled to the Secretary of State for Education and Science and are therefore included in the figures for these Sessions. The OAL transferred to the Cabinet Office in June 1983 at the beginning of the 1983–84 Session. †Up to and including 24 May. Source:Departmental Statistics.