Parliament Explained

A podcast from the UK Parliament

Episode 3 ‘Scrutiny: Questions and Debates’

Script

<MUSICAL INTRODUCTION

MEERA:

Welcome to the third podcast in this series, “Parliament Explained”.

I’m Meera Syal and in this series I’m exploring exactly what happens in Parliament.

To make sure you never miss an episode, you can subscribe the programme on your podcast app so that it downloads automatically every Monday

In this episode we’ll be thinking about scrutiny. We’ve learned that the UK Parliament checks and challenges the work of the Government, but how does this work in practise? It’s time to hear in more detail at some of the tools used by MPs and members of the House of Lords to scrutinise the work of the Government, such as questioning and debates.

We’ll begin by hearing more about the daily questions put to ministers in both Chambers and how this can be used to respond to current events, highlight areas of public concern and to press for government action. Then we’ll talk about ways for MPs and members of the House of Lords can get more in-depth responses on a topic, through written questions and debates. We’ll also be exploring some of the traditions and formalities of how questions and debates work in each House.

Some of the things we discuss in this episode may seem quite familiar to you. Perhaps you’ve seen clips of Prime Minister’s Questions on the news or watched a debate in the House of Lords on TV. But there may be other areas of parliamentary business that are less familiar.

We discovered in our first episode that the Government is accountable to Parliament. This means that, when Parliament questions the decisions or actions of the Government, ministers are expected to come to Parliament to respond and explain the Government’s position.

VOX POPS:

  • “Oh we certainly need to keep them in check. They certainly need to listen to the voice of the people”
  • “People need to know what’s going on. They need to discuss it”
  • “It means yeah they think about points even further in challenging what their opinions are,so we’re not led into a direction that we don’t want to be led into”
  • "Otherwise they’d be able to do whatever they want. I think there needs to be two sides to every argument, if not three or four sides, and I think challenging and debating is the only way that we’re going to be more reflective of society”
  • “It’s an absolute flagstone of our kind of democracy that you’re keeping things in check, you’re alwaysdebating, so that not one political party can get away with anything and put whatever they want through. Really important to keep checks and balances”
  • “People from varied backgrounds and beliefs and different types of people”
  • “It’s not just the decisions that are important but also the justification behind decisions. People need to be aware how decisions are reached”

<MUSIC ENDS>

MEERA:

While some members of both Houses are chosen to become government ministers, the vast majority of MPs and members of the House of Lords aren’t, and their role is to work on our behalf to question and scrutinise the Government.

Scrutiny in Parliament takes many forms, including:

1) Parliamentary Questions, these can be either oral questions, asked in person in the House of Commons or House of Lords Chamber, or written questions that are submitted in writing and receive a written answer.

2) Debates on specific subjects - these allow those taking part more time to raise different points and have them answered by a minister

3) Inquiries by select committees. We’ll talk more about the scrutiny carried out by select committees in our next episode.

Let’s start with Oral Questions in the Commons. While these take place throughout the week and for all departments, one of the liveliest and most well-known events in the Parliamentary calendar is Prime Minister’s Question Time, sometimes referred to as PMQs.

PRIME MINISTER THERESA MAY MP:

“I understand and share the concern my honourable friend rightly shows for her constituent… I understand the Minister at the Foreign Office is actively working on this question and of course I will ask him to respond to the honourable lady and to meet with her”

-Response to an Oral Question to the Prime Minister, House of Commons Chamber, Wednesday 30 November 2016

MEERA:

Prime Minister’s Question Time – or PMQs - is one of the most well-known events of the parliamentary week. For half an hour each Wednesday in the House of Commons, MPs are given the opportunity to put questions directly to the Prime Minister on any subject for which the Government is responsible. To tell us more, Lynn Hobson and Gary Hart are here. They’re Regional Outreach Officers for the Houses of Parliament.

LYNN HOBSON:

The Prime Minister answers questions in the House of Commons Chamber for half an hour each sitting week and, as with most parliamentary business, it’s broadcast live online at parliamentlive.tv. These exchanges are often lively, so they’re regularly featured in the news headlines and shared widely on social media.

MEERA:

Who gets to ask a question during PMQs?

GARY HART:

MPs need to enter a ballot for the chance to ask the Prime Minister their question during PMQs. They do this by submitting a question in advance – which is known as ‘tabling a question’. Then, out of all the questions that have been tabled, 15 are chosen randomly by computer - a process we call the ‘shuffle’.

Additionally, the Leader of the Opposition is allowed, by convention, to ask up to six questions each time and the leader of the second largest opposition party is normally called to ask at least one question.

Finally, to make sure that some political and regional balance is achieved and that a diversity of viewpoints is heard, the Speaker normally calls several other MPs to ask a question during the session.

MEERA:

So what actually happens during this half-hour session?

HUW MERRIMAN MP:

“Number 1 Mr Speaker”

MR SPEAKER:

“Prime Minister...”

-Oral Question to the Prime Minister, House of Commons Chamber, Wednesday 15 March 2017

LYNN:

PMQs normally begins with a routine question from an MP about the Prime Minister’s engagements for the day, to which the PM responds by listing their upcoming meetings.

Because the whole House is generally present for the occasion, the Prime Minister may also take the opportunity at this point to make an announcement or give an official reaction to a recent event. The MP who asked the initial question is then allowed to ask a follow-up question – known as a supplementary. According to the rules, supplementary questions must stick to the same subject matter as the original question that was tabled but, by tabling a broad first question - about the PM’s engagements for the day - an MP is free to ask a supplementary on any subject within the Government’s responsibilities.

And the Prime Minister has no advance notice of what the question will be.

For this reason, most MPs choose to table this very same ‘engagements’ question in order to enter the ballot for PMQs. So when MPs are called to ask their question during the session itself, in most cases they’ll simply ask their supplementary question.

TOBY PERKINS MP:

“The Government chose to launch the pupil premium at Spire Junior School in Chesterfield, where 70% of pupils receive free school meals. The headteacher, Dave Shaw, was going to run the great north run for a cancer charity. However, the Prime Minister’s new schools funding formula means that Spire Junior School now faces the biggest cuts in all of Derbyshire. Running for cash is now the only alternative to sacking staff. Will she go to the finish line and tell Dave Shaw how this is a fairer funding formula?”

PRIME MINISTER THERESA MAY MP:

“I am pleased to say that, in the local authority that covers the honourable Gentleman’s constituency, we have seen an increase of over 17,000 children at good or outstanding schools since 2010”.

-Oral Question to the Prime Minister and response, House of Commons Chamber, Wednesday 8th February 2017

LYNN:

All of this means that the Prime Minister doesn’t know in advance what questions they’ll be asked. They will, mind you, be extensively briefed by government officials who try to anticipate the likely subjects that will come up.

The Leader of the Opposition is usually called early on in the proceedings and, unlike other MPs, has the chance to come back with several further questions. Media attention will often focus on the performance of the two party leaders during these very public exchanges.

JEREMY CORBYN MP:

“What the Prime Minister is doing is petulantly aiming a threat at our public services with her threats about a bargain basement Britain. Is her priority our struggling NHS, those denied social care, and children having their school funding cut, or is it once again further cuts in big business taxation to make the rich even better off?”

PRIME MINISTER THERESA MAY MP:

“I simply remind the right honourable Gentleman that I have been very clear that this Government will protect workers’ rights; indeed, we have a review of modern employment law to ensure all employment ​legislation is keeping up with the modern labour market”.

-Oral Question to the Prime Minister and response, House of Commons Chamber, Wednesday 25 January 2017

MEERA:

Does every MP who wants to ask a question get to do so?

GARY:

PMQs are always over-subscribed. In the past, though, it was quite common for a session of PMQs to end even before all the questions on the Order Paper had been answered.

The current Speaker, John Bercow, has established a brisker style to give more backbenchers a chance to take part and he usually makes sure he calls all 15 MPs as well as several others even if this means the session runs over by a few minutes.

Angus Robertson MP:

“I am sorry but that is not good enough. I am being heckled while standing up for deprived communities. That will ill behove Tory Members in Scotland.
The Leader of the House is correct that the Department has plans to cut the estate by 20%, but it is planning to cut it by 50% in Glasgow. Why are the Government planning disproportionately to cut vital jobcentres in some of the most deprived communities in our country?”

-Oral Question to the Prime Minister and response, House of Commons Chamber, Wednesday 7 December 2016

MEERA:

You can follow PMQs live online every week on parliamentlive.tv and you can also listen back to any edition of PMQs in podcast form on SoundCloud at You’ll be able to hear how the Prime Minister begins with answering a question on their engagements, answers a supplementary question, and then responds to questions from other MPs and opposition leaders.

<MUSICAL BREAK>

MEERA:

In February 2014, the Hansard Society published ‘Tuned in or Turned off? Public attitudes to Prime Minister’s Questions’.

This report studied public attitudes to PMQs and asked whether PMQs is a ‘cue’ for wider negative perceptions of Parliament. Lynn Hobson’s back to tell us more.

LYNN:

The Hansard Society report acknowledged that PMQs is the best known aspect of Parliament’s work. It’s famous all around the world for its combative, adversarial atmosphere.

It’s the bit of Parliament’s work that the public are most aware of and have likely seen on the television news. But while it is well known, their research found that high levels of public awareness of PMQs shouldn’t be mistaken for a high level of approval.

In fact, the most common words the public used to describe it were:

VOX POPS:

  • “Noisy”
  • “Childish”
  • “Over-the-top”
  • “Pointless”

LYNN:

Although the report indicated some negative public perceptions of PMQs - with some saying that the noisy and aggressive atmosphere can put people off politics - others argue that a call for reform of PMQs misses the point. That a weekly clash reminds us of the essential nature of politics, and that opposing views are worth fighting for.

Others have made the point that many people around the world who live in less open societies would relish seeing their own leaders held to account in such a public forum week after week, so that we in the UK should perhaps be more proud of PMQs and what it represents.

MEERA:

So what happened when I asked members of the public their opinions on PMQs?

VOX POPS:

  • “I think PMQs is effective to the extent that it’s an opportunity for the Opposition to hold the Government to account, so I think it would be good if the Opposition had more opportunity to ask further questions”
  • “There seems to be a lot of huffing and puffing and a lot of ‘hear hear’ and I wonder how much the kind of exhibition side of it gets in the way of getting anything done”
  • “I think the follow-up from things like PMQs is so few-and-far-between that it’s almost futile to have the debate in the first place”
  • “I think it’s a good thing, it raises awareness and for those who are already aware it can raise their causes”
  • “It’s important for the Prime Minister to interact with the Parliament that everyone votes on”
  • “It’s staged a lot of the time I think”
  • “It’s become very show-y now, and I think it was more perceptive before”
  • “It’s a chance for the Prime Minister to be properly grilled on the issues of the day, and I think that’s a good thing”
  • “Ask a question and get a straight answer, that’s what people want…At the end of the day a question is asked of the Prime Minister and they rebuff it…and never give a straight answer“
  • “Media needs to change what they report and that would help”
  • “It is shout-y and I don’t think they get anywhere from all the shouting. Actually then it puts people off listening to it or watching it, because all you’re tuning into is them arguing with each other rather than actually discussing the point from an objective point of view”
  • “Half an hour is not a lot of time, there’s not a lot of questions to get through, so I’d say extend it to an hour, possibly twice a week. I think it’s really important”

<MUSICAL BREAK

MEERA:

I’m now going to focus more broadly on both oral and written parliamentary questions as a tool used by members of the House of Lords and MPs to hold the Government to account.

Prime Minister’s Question Time is just one of many oral question sessions that take place during a week in Parliament. In fact, members of the House of Lords and MPs in the Commons have an opportunity to put questions to government ministers or spokespeople on most sitting days.

Let’s hear more from Gary Hart and Lynn Hobson.

GARY:

Cabinet ministers come to the House of Commons each sitting day from Monday to Thursday to respond to oral questions, for up to an hour, about the work of their department.

Each department is called to appear about once every five sitting weeks, according to a rota set by the Government. Most of the questions asked at these sessions have been submitted at least three days in advance and the full text of each question can be seen beforehand in a numbered list on the day’s Order Paper.

So during the session, the Speaker calls out just the question number and the minister responds by reading out an answer they have prepared in advance. But then, like at PMQs, the MP who submitted the question can ask a follow-up, supplementary question.

An MP’s supplementary question must be on the same subject as the original question they tabled, but this time the minister won’t have a ready prepared response.

So this can be an opportunity for opposition MPs to try to wrong-foot a minister by putting them on the spot publicly about something or exposing an apparent failing.

Equally, an MP from the Government side might ask a question that allows the minister to highlight an apparent success. If the minister doesn’t have the facts and figures to hand that are needed to answer a supplementary question, they will normally promise to write to the MP afterwards with the information.

ANDREW TURNER MP:

“Coastal areas have particular challenges because they do not have 360 abilities to trade with other areas. Does the Right HonourableGentleman regard the Isle Of Wight as a special case?”

PHILIP HAMMOND MP:

“What I can say is that the Government recognises the specific barriers to coastal areas such as the Isle of Wight and that’s why we have extended the coastal communities fund by at least a further 90 million pounds over the current parliament… the Isle of Wight has benefitted from almost 15 million pounds of investment to grow the skills base, support business growth and improve transport links.”

-Oral Question to the Chancellor of the Exchequer and response, House of Commons Chamber, Tuesday 29 November 2016