HOUSE OF LORDS - United Kingdom Parliament

equired; when the responsible minister is a member of the House of
Lords; when the House of Commons is not sitting. 1
6.36 When the answer to an Urgent Question tabled in the Commons
is, by agreement between the usual channels, to be repeated in the
Lords, it is usually repeated in the form of a statement, synchronised with
the answer in the Commons, and not taken by way of a PNQ in the
Lords.
6.37 When an oral question in the House of Commons is deferred by
a minister in that House to be answered at the end of normal question
time, 2 the PNQ procedure is used to deal with the deferred question in
the Lords. The deferred question follows the normal rules for PNQs and
is expected to take not more than 10 minutes.
Questions for written answer
6.38 A member of the House who wishes to ask a question but does
not want an oral reply may enter it in House of Lords Business under the
heading “Questions for Written Answer”. 3 Questions may be tabled only
on sitting days, and on two days during the summer recess, normally the
first Monday in September and the first Monday in October. 4 Guidance
for the wording of written questions is given at paragraphs 6.11–6.22.
Answers to written questions are sent directly to the member by a Lords
minister in the relevant department and are published in Hansard.
Answers are issued to the Press Gallery from 4.30 p.m., with no embargo
on use and publication.
6.39 When a minister undertakes in the House to write to a member
on a matter of general interest to the House, it is open to that member
1 Procedure 2nd Rpt 1990–91.
2 Deferred questions are normally taken in the Commons at 3.30 p.m. on Mondays and
Tuesdays, 12.30 p.m. on Wednesdays, and 11.30 a.m. on Thursdays. The purpose of the
procedure is to defer to the end of question time a question that would otherwise come
higher up the list in order to prevent the question from taking up a disproportionate amount
of question time and to allow it some extra time on the floor of the House.
3 SO 44; Procedure 1st Rpt 1990–91.
4 Procedure 3rd Rpt 2006–07. The Leader of the House has discretion to vary the standard
pattern of dates, by agreement with the usual channels, in case of exceptional recess dates.
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