HOUSE OF LORDS - United Kingdom Parliament

The ballot for Secretary of State’s questions
6.33 The three questions addressed to Secretaries of State, which are
asked on a Thursday, are selected by means of a ballot which takes place
at 2 p.m. the preceding Monday. The ballot opens one week earlier. The
timetable is thus as follows:
Day
questions are
to be asked
Ballot opens Ballot drawn Questions
appear in HL
Business
Thursday
Monday of the
preceding week,
10 a.m.
Monday of
the same
week, 2 p.m.
Tuesday morning
Private notice questions 1
6.34 A private notice question (PNQ) gives members of the House the
opportunity to raise urgent matters on any sitting day. A PNQ should be
submitted in writing to the Lord Speaker by 12 noon on the day on
which it is proposed to ask it, or by 10 a.m. on days when the House sits
before 1 p.m. The decision whether the question is of sufficient urgency
and importance to justify an immediate reply rests with the Lord Speaker,
after consultation. 2
6.35 PNQs are taken immediately after oral questions, or on Friday at a
time agreed by the Lord Speaker, the Lord asking the question and the
usual channels. They should not be made the occasion for immediate
debate. 3 Proceedings on PNQs follow the rules for oral questions. In
particular, supplementary questions should be short and confined to not
more than two points. Comment should be avoided. Proceedings on a
PNQ are expected to take not more than 10 minutes. For these reasons
it may at times be more convenient for the House if the PNQ procedure
is not used but instead the government makes a statement on the matter
which the PNQ is intended to raise. Circumstances in which statements
may be more appropriate than PNQs include: when a long answer is
1 SO 35; Procedure 1st Rpt 1959–60; 5th Rpt 1971–72.
2 Procedure 3rd Rpt 2005–06; 2nd Rpt 2009–10.
3 SO 35.
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