House of Lords
Introduction: Baroness Sarpong
Introduction: Lord Ross of Nevill Holt
Arrangement of Business
(1 day, 13 hours ago)
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Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms and Chief Whip (Lord Kennedy of Southwark) (Lab Co-op)
My Lords, I rise before the first Oral Question to again remind noble Lords of the importance of brevity. Before the Conference Recess, the House agreed proposals from the Procedure and Privileges Committee, which included changes to the Companion on Oral Questions and their length and answer. These changes are designed to reinforce the importance of questions being short, sharp, succinct and to the point, to maximise the ability of noble Lords to ask questions of Ministers. The changes take effect from today and will mean that the supplementary question of the noble Lord asking the Question should not exceed 45 seconds, and subsequent questions should not exceed 30 seconds. The clocks will not actively flash when this limit is reached but this guidance should help noble Lords in preparing and monitoring the length of their questions.
I have reminded Ministers of the need for their responses to be equally brief, to ensure adequate time for scrutiny. We are lucky today to have the noble Lord, Lord Bailey of Paddington, asking the first Question and my noble friend Lady Blake of Leeds answering that Question. They will set the standard for others to follow. Where supplementary questions contain several points, Ministers will continue to answer only the two main points. I hope this is helpful.
I will continue to come to this Dispatch Box and raise this issue, because I want the House to scrutinise, challenge and question the Government effectively. By following these rules, it will do just that.
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Public Office (Accountability) Bill
Monday 12th October 2026
(1 day, 13 hours ago)
Lords ChamberRead Full debate Public Office (Accountability) Bill 2024-26 View all Public Office (Accountability) Bill 2024-26 Debates Read Hansard Text Amendment Paper: HL Bill 42-I(b) Amendments for Committee (Supplementary to the Marshalled List) - (12 Oct 2026)