§ John ThursoTo ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs (1) how many(a) ordinary written and (b) named day questions his Department received in (i) 2002–03 and (ii) this parliamentary session up to the most recent date for which figures are available, broken down by month;[170760]
(2) what proportion of (a) ordinary written questions to his Department were answered within five sitting days of tabling and (b) questions for a named day received a substantive answer on that day in (i) 2002–03 and (ii) the current parliamentary session up to the most recent date for which figures are available, broken down by month. [170761]
§ Mr. LammyFor the 2002–03 parliamentary session, my Department had 696 Commons ordinary written questions of which 383 were answered within five sittings days and 98 named day questions of which 65 were answered on the specified date.
For the current parliamentary session (2003–04) my Department has had 436 Commons ordinary written questions, of which 301 were answered within five sitting days and 70 named day questions of which 34 were answered on the specified date.
1787WFigures are not available for my Department's parliamentary questions broken down by month as our records are not held in this manner.
My Department endeavours to answer all parliamentary questions within the parliamentary deadlines whenever possible. In addition, I refer the hon. Member to the reply given by my right hon. Friend the Leader of the House to the hon. Member for Lewes (Norman Baker) on 3 March 2004, Official Report, column 907W.