Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Answer of 25 April 2022 to Question 151069 on Department for Education: Parliamentary Questions, if she will provide this information for the 2022-23 Parliamentary Session to 30 November 2022.

The Department attaches great importance to the effective and timely handling of correspondence from Members of Parliament, including written parliamentary questions (WPQs).

The below table provides the average number of working days that it has taken for the Department to respond to ‘Named Day’ and ‘Ordinary’ WPQs during the 2022/23 Parliamentary Session up to 30 November 2022. It also includes the totals received and the percentage of questions answered within their respective parliamentary deadlines.

Footnotes:
1. Data is based on the number of ‘Named Day’ and ‘Ordinary’ WPQs received and answered by the Department for Education from the start of the 2022/23 Parliamentary Session to 30 November 2022

2. MPs may table questions, specifying the date on which they should receive an answer (a Named Day WPQ). MPs must give a minimum of two days notice. However, they may also pick a date further in the future. This can impact the average number of working days to respond

3. Recess periods can impact the due date for answering WPQs, this will also have an impact on the average number of working days to respond. During this period, the House rose for Summer recess, Conference recess, November recess and the Official Mourning Period

4. These figures do not include 93 Ordinary WPQs that were not answered during the Official Mourning Period, as advised by the Table Office

5. An average length of time to respond is not given for the overall totals.