Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Leader of the House:
To ask the Leader of the House, what guidance she has issued on when there should be pre-legislative scrutiny of Bills that have constitutional implications.
Answered by Lucy Powell - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
Chapter 21 of the Guide to Making Legislation sets out the broad principles and process by which a bill is considered for publication in draft for pre-legislative scrutiny. Decisions in relation to whether a bill is published in draft are taken on a case by case basis in the broader context of the overall legislative programme.
Asked by: Cat Eccles (Labour - Stourbridge)
Question to the Leader of the House:
To ask the Leader of the House, when she plans to provide parliamentary time for the House to debate the Pathways to Work Green Paper.
Answered by Lucy Powell - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
The House has had a number of opportunities to discuss the Pathways to Work Green Paper, including:
I am committed to providing time in the Chamber to the Backbench Business Committee and I would encourage the Hon. Member to apply for a debate through the Committee if they so wish. In addition, Members will have the opportunity to debate reform of the health and disability benefits system when measures are brought forward in due course.
Asked by: Peter Bedford (Conservative - Mid Leicestershire)
Question to the Leader of the House:
To ask the Leader of the House, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing electronic voting for divisions in the House of Commons.
Answered by Lucy Powell - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
This is a matter for the House to consider. The Hon. Member may wish to note that the Procedure Committee is currently undertaking an inquiry into electronic voting. The Government recently submitted written evidence to that inquiry (available at: https://committees.parliament.uk/work/8885/electronic-voting/publications/written-evidence/) and he may wish to respond directly to the Committee's call for evidence.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Leader of the House:
To ask the Leader of the House, if she will ensure that a (a) full debate takes place in and (b) divisible motion is agreed by the House of Commons before deploying UK ground forces to Ukraine.
Answered by Lucy Powell - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
There is a longstanding convention on war powers which this government respects.
I refer the Hon. Member to the words of the Prime Minister on 3rd March 2025 during the statement on Ukraine (available at: https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/2025-03-03).
The Prime Minister (Official report, col.28)
"We will, of course, put details before the House when we get to that stage—if we get to that stage."
The Prime Minister (Official report, col.38)
"My position on the sustained deployment of our troops is that this House would of course want to discuss that and vote on that, but we are nowhere near that stage at the moment."
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Leader of the House:
To ask the Leader of the House, if she will review the practices of the Department of Culture, Media and Sport on disclosing information under (a) FOI and (b) parliamentary question.
Answered by Lucy Powell - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
I refer the Rt. Hon. Member to the response provided to his question 24243.
As I have previously said, I encourage Hon. Members to raise any specific issues they may have with myself.
Asked by: Kevin Hollinrake (Conservative - Thirsk and Malton)
Question to the Leader of the House:
To ask the Leader of the House, pursuant to the Answer of 19 March 2025 to Question 37209 on Government Departments: Written Questions, whether it is her policy that if information would be released under the Environmental Information Regulations it should also be released in response to a written Parliamentary Question.
Answered by Lucy Powell - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
I refer the Hon. Member to the response provided to Question 37209, which answers his question.
I encourage the Hon. Member to raise any specific issues they may have regarding PQ responses with myself and my office.
Asked by: Toby Perkins (Labour - Chesterfield)
Question to the Leader of the House:
To ask the Leader of the House, how many (a) oral statements, (b) urgent questions, (c) end of day adjournment debates and (d) Westminster Hall debates each Department has responded to since 5 July 2024.
Answered by Lucy Powell - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
Urgent questions, adjournment debates and Westminster Hall debates are a matter for the House. Information relating to each of these is available on the Parliament website.
The Government is responsible for the arrangement of oral statements. As of 3rd April 2025, there have been 129 oral statements from the following departments:
Department | Number of oral statements |
Department for Business and Trade | 8 |
Cabinet Office | 9 |
Department for Culture, Media and Sport | 4 |
Ministry of Defence | 7 |
Department for Education | 8 |
Department for Energy Security and Net Zero | 8 |
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs | 4 |
Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office | 20 |
Department of Health and Social Care | 8 |
Home Office | 15 |
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government | 8 |
Ministry of Justice | 6 |
Northern Ireland Office | 2 |
Prime Minister | 6 |
Department for Science, Innovation and Technology | 2 |
Department for Transport | 5 |
Treasury | 6 |
Department for Work and Pensions | 3 |
Asked by: Simon Opher (Labour - Stroud)
Question to the Leader of the House:
To ask the Leader of the House, what discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions on bringing forward legislative proposals to tighten eligibility for Personal Independence Payments.
Answered by Lucy Powell - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
As Leader of the House of Commons (and Chair of the Parliamentary Business and Legislation Committee), I meet regularly with Cabinet colleagues to discuss legislation and other matters. Recently announced changes to PIP eligibility will be brought forward in primary legislation 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, pursuant to the Answer of 22 October 2024 to Question 8807 on Government Departments: Written Questions, whether her policy on Freedom of Information requests also applies to Environmental Information Regulation requests
Answered by Lucy Powell - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
The Government’s policy on answers to Written Parliamentary Questions and Questions for Written Answer is set out in the Guide to Parliamentary Work (available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guide-to-parliamentary-work). The guidance contains no reference to Environmental Information Regulation requests. The Information Commissioner's Office provides guidance and resources for public authorities and the public about the Freedom of Information Act and the Environment Information Regulations, available online at ico.org.uk.
Asked by: Josh Fenton-Glynn (Labour - Calder Valley)
Question to the Leader of the House:
To ask the Leader of the House, how many social media accounts her Department operates; and how much her Department spent on social media (a) subscriptions and (b) advertisements on each social media platform in each of the last three years.
Answered by Lucy Powell - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
The Office of the Leader of the House of Commons is part of the Cabinet Office. I refer the hon. Member to the response provided by the Cabinet Office (35133).
The Office of the Leader of the House of Commons currently operates three social media accounts, with no subscription or advertisement cost.