How to use parliamentary questions to boostyour campaign

We often associate parliamentary questions with a packed House, and MPs standing and waving their order papers during Prime Minister’s Question Time. However, parliamentary questions are routinely asked of all departments of Government, with a departmental Question Time occurring most weekdays.

Getting questions answered can be a useful tool in campaigning, and is not difficult.

Think of a question…

The most obvious reason why you might want to get a parliamentary question asked is that its answer can provide you with a useful piece of information that is not readily accessible elsewhere. For example, in July 2005, Colin Challen, MP for Morley and Rothwell, asked the Secretary of State for Transport to give the costs of 37 road-building schemes. The answer showed that these schemes were more than a billion pounds over budget. Such information can help fuel a campaign by giving evidence for campaigning arguments and highlighting areas of concern. Answers can be used to generate good publicity. In this case, CPRE issued a press release about the increase in road-building costs as part of its transport campaign.

Getting questions asked can bring a subject to the attention of Parliament. For example, questions asked about the ‘growth areas’ in the South East have helped to increase awareness of the issues among MPs. Cultivating parliamentary contacts now may benefit your organisation in future campaigns too, as well as raising its profile.

Parliamentary questions are a means of eliciting information from the Government and are not a vehicle for the direct expression of political opinion, even if the information gained is later put to political use.

Know your department

A parliamentary question must relate to an area of ministerial responsibility. So, when drafting a question, you should find out which department has responsibility for its subject matter. Each department of Government answers oral questions during Question Time about once a month. Ministers are not responsible for the activities of local authorities, though they do answer questions on national statistics.

Since 2003, it has been possible to ask questions on topics which fall under the remit of more than one department. These are called cross-cutting questions. For example, a question on regional strategies may have implications for the departments of transport and health, as well as the Department for Communities and Local Government and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

Decide: oral or written question?

Oral questions are asked and answered directly on the floor of the Houses of Commons and Lords during Question Time. In the Commons, MPs must submit (or ‘table’) oral questions three days before they are to be asked. Each MP may table at most two oral questions for one session of Question Time. Many more oral questions are likely to be tabled than it would be possible to hear, so a small number are chosen at random. Once a Minister has given an answer in the Commons, MPs may ask further unscripted questions, known as supplementary questions. These supplementary exchanges are likely to be party political in nature.

The procedure in the House of Lords is slightly different, with one oral and six written questions allowed by each peer every day.

Written questions can result in more detailed answers than oral questions, and are tabled with fewer restrictions. You’ll usually receive an answer within seven working days, though this is not obligatory, so you could specify a date by which you require a reply. Such questions are known as ‘named day’ questions. At least two days’ notice must be given.

Most MPs are happy to table written questions for members of the public since there are no limits on the number that can be asked. Oral questions account for only one in fifteen of the 60,000 or so questions answered each year. So it’s likely to be harder to get an oral question asked, although they are likely to have greater political impact within Parliament.

Contact an MP or peer

MPs have a duty to represent the views of their constituents. You should approach your local MP with a question, especially if you can show it concerns an issue of local importance. If your MP refuses to table your question, you may wish to approach another MP, or a peer. The Parliament website ( contains a list of all members, and the website ‘They Work for You’ ( allows you to search Hansard – the written record of parliamentary debates and questions – by topic, MP or peer, to find members likely to agree with your concerns. MPs and peers can be contacted via their offices or researchers.

Draft your question

Written questions asked by MPs should start, ‘To ask the Secretary of State for…’, naming the appropriate department. Questions asked in the Lords have the format, ‘To ask Her Majesty’s Government…’. Questions should be concise and as specific as possible. If you are writing an oral question, you should provide a short briefing on the subject for the MP or peer.

Get an answer

Answers are usually published in Hansard the day after they are given. Some questions are answered only with the words, ‘I will write to the honourable member’, and any further information is placed in the House of Commons (or Lords) library for consultation. In this case, you may ask the MP or peer who asked the question to send this information to you.

PQs count as a material consideration

Parliamentary questions are important for campaigners because if a Minister discusses policy in his or her answer, the answer can be considered to be a ‘material consideration’, to be taken into account when a council is making a decision on a planning application. This happened in 2000, when a written answer about Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty made it clear they merited the same protection as National Parks, effectively replacing a paragraph of national planning policy on the countryside. More recently, there was a written answer about when the Government would call in planning applications – and that answer is now in the companion guide to Planning Policy Statement 1.

House of Commons Media Unit

A parliamentary question

This would be OK:

To ask the Secretary of State to list

road schemes that have gone ahead since 1997.

But this would be better:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport to list major

road schemes whose construction has been completed by

a) the Highways Agency and

b) local authorities,

for each year since 1 January 1997.

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This briefing comes from the CPRE "Fieldwork" newsletter, June 2006

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