Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Leader of the House:
To ask the Leader of the House, pursuant to the answer of 8 September 2026, to Question 20501, on Written Questions: Arms Length Bodies, if he will ensure that sponsoring Ministers facilitate written Parliamentary Questions to the Independent Football Regulator.
Answered by Alan Campbell - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
The Independent Football Regulator is an executive non-departmental public body, sponsored by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport.
In relation to the scrutiny of Arms Length Bodies, I refer the Hon Member to the answer provided in response to question 20501.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Leader of the House:
To ask the Leader of the House, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the Procedure Committee's report on written questions on his policy on Departments depositing information in the Library that has been requested in a Parliamentary Question and which has previously been substantively disclosed to non-Parliamentarians via a Freedom of Information Act response.
Answered by Alan Campbell - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
The Government will respond to the Procedure Committee's report on Written Parliamentary Questions in due course.
As set out in the Ministerial Code, Ministers “should be as open as possible with Parliament and the public, refusing to provide information only when disclosure would not be in the public interest which should be decided in accordance with the relevant statutes and the Freedom of Information Act 2000.”
The Guide to Parliamentary Work, (available at https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/673372f9c10bb403d96bf2f8/Guide_to_Parliamentary_Work.pdf) offers guidance to departments on responding to written questions and their relationship to the Freedom of Information Act.
As set out in paragraphs 221-223 of the Guide to Parliamentary Work:
“Every question should be approached with a predisposition to give relevant information fully. There should be no inconsistencies between the provision of information in answers to written questions and information given under the FOI Act, therefore, if information would be released under FOI, it would also be released in response to a WPQ/QWA. There may sometimes be cases where Ministers decide that the importance of parliamentary accountability means that information which might otherwise be subject to a FOI exemption is given in a WPQ response. If there appears to be a conflict between the requirement to be as open as possible and the requirement to protect information whose disclosure would not be in the public interest, you should consult your FOI liaison officer if necessary.
“Ministers should be advised of any relevant FOI cases under consideration when answering written questions, and it should be revealed if information being released is of a sort not normally disclosed.
“If information is not disclosed, or fully disclosed, the draft answer should make this clear and explain the reasons in terms similar to those in the FOI Act (without resorting to explicit reference to the Act itself). For example:
“The release of information would prejudice commercial interests””
Asked by: Alex Burghart (Conservative - Brentwood and Ongar)
Question to the Leader of the House:
To ask the Leader of the House, if he will ensure that answers to written Parliamentary Questions provide relevant hyperlinks.
Answered by Alan Campbell - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
It is important that Members receive full and helpful responses to parliamentary questions.
The Guide to Parliamentary Work (available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guide-to-parliamentary-work), published by my office, states that “if referring to documents in the public domain, you should include the relevant extracts in your written response as well as the relevant hyperlink”.
I note the Procedure Committee’s report on Written Parliamentary Questions published today (available at: https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm5902/cmselect/cmproced/49/report.html), which makes reference to the use of hyperlinks. The Government will respond to the Committee’s report in due course.
In addition, I encourage Hon. Members to raise any specific issues they may have with myself.
Asked by: John Slinger (Labour - Rugby)
Question to the Leader of the House:
To ask the Leader of the House, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of the allocation of an annual budget to Members of Parliament for distribution to good causes in their constituency.
Answered by Alan Campbell - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
The Government does not have plans to provide individual budgets to MPs for local causes. There is an established process for parliamentary approval of local funding via the Estimates process, and IPSA independently of Parliament is responsible for administering MPs’ pay and allowances associated with their parliamentary duties.
Asked by: John Slinger (Labour - Rugby)
Question to the Leader of the House:
To ask the Leader of the House, what steps he is taking to review the role of Member of Parliaments a) in general and b) given planned changes through local government reorganisation.
Answered by Alan Campbell - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
The Government has no plans for a general review of the role of MPs who, as elected representatives, play an important scrutiny role at a national level. MPs are accountable to their constituents and as office holders are able to perform their role as they see appropriate.
In the Cabinet Statement on 'Rewiring the State' published in July, the Government set out its ambition to deliver growth and the benefits of local empowerment across all parts of the country, while also ensuring “that there is a clear role for Members of Parliament in local accountability, working with mayors and local councillors." The Government will provide further details on this policy in due course.
Asked by: Kevin Hollinrake (Conservative - Thirsk and Malton)
Question to the Leader of the House:
To ask the Leader of the House, with reference to the answer of 17 March 2026, to Question 119365, on Members: Dual Jobbing, whether it is HM Government’s policy intention to seek to amend the House of Commons Code of Conduct to ban Hon. Members taking secondary employment through speakers’ bureaus and paid speaking engagements.
Answered by Alan Campbell - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
The Government is grateful for the ongoing work by the Committee on Standards to consider how the rules relating to MPs’ second jobs can be further strengthened. As I have set out to the Committee, the Government believes that there are three principles that should be considered in determining whether a second job is appropriate: time, money and influence. The Government awaits with interest the Committee on Standards’ assessment of these principles as the basis for changes to the existing rules. My most recent letter to the Committee on this matter is available here: https://committees.parliament.uk/publications/54107/documents/301238/default/
Asked by: Kevin Hollinrake (Conservative - Thirsk and Malton)
Question to the Leader of the House:
To ask the Leader of the House, with reference to the answer of 29 April 2026, to Question 129162, on Cabinet Office: Written Questions, if he will place in the Library a copy of the letter sent to Departmental Parliamentary Clerks on WPQs and FOIs.
Answered by Alan Campbell - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
In reference to the response to Question 129162, I have spoken with Departmental Parliamentary Clerks about the release of information under WPQ and FOI.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Leader of the House:
To ask the Leader of the House, pursuant to the answer of 13 July 2026 to Question 15235 on Department for Culture, Media and Sport: Written Questions, what is the evidential basis for there being no provision for Arm’s length bodies to provide a reply directly to Written Parliamentary Questions via a sponsoring Minister.
Answered by Alan Campbell - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
Arm’s length bodies (ALBs) are a vital part of how the Government delivers policies and public services. It is important that they are accountable and transparent. Almost all departments oversee ALBs, which operate with varying degrees of autonomy, but all are subject to scrutiny.
While Ministers are held accountable to Parliament for the body's overall performance, ALBs are already held to account in numerous ways, including long-established lines of accountability within government, and externally, including to Parliament. For example, Select Committees can, and do, call in the Chief Executives and Chairs of Public Bodies when there are concerns regarding an individual body or sectoral issues.
The Government’s Guide to Parliamentary Work outlines best practice for departments at paragraphs 226-227:
"There is no provision for ALBs to answer WPQs/QWAs directly in either House. Ministers from sponsoring departments answer questions on ALBs’ behalf, which may include information provided by the Chief Executive (or equivalent) of the ALB in question. It is normal practice for a department receiving a WPQ/QWA relating entirely to the operations of an arm’s length body to provide an answer on behalf of that body.
Letters from the arm’s length body should either be pasted into the answer box in full, preceded by a suitable introduction explaining the relationship between the body and the department, or uploaded as attachments provided that a suitable introduction has been pasted into the answer box. The text in the answer box should be as self-contained as possible."
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Leader of the House:
To ask the Leader of the House, with reference to the answer of 20 February 2026 to Question 105707 on Private Companies: Accountability, if he will make it his policy to update the Cabinet Office Guide to Parliamentary Work to set an expectation that Departments must ensure that written questions can be asked of HM Government-owned private corporations through the Minister of their sponsoring department.
Answered by Alan Campbell - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
I will consider this as part of the next update to the Guide to Parliamentary Work.
Asked by: Kevin Hollinrake (Conservative - Thirsk and Malton)
Question to the Leader of the House:
To ask the Leader of the House, with reference to HM Government’s submission to the Procedure Committee, WRP0015, published 28 January 2026, paragraph 14, what estimate the Leader of the House has made of the increase in the number of written Parliamentary Questions being tabled as a consequence of Ministers giving answers which do not sufficiently answer the question put.
Answered by Alan Campbell - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
I refer the Hon. Member to the response provided to Question 129160.