ABSTRACT

Question Time in the House of Commons is one of the most publicised features of Parliament and represents one of the principal means by which information is obtained from Ministers by Members of Parliament and the public, and of underpinning individual ministerial responsibility. Prime Minister’s Question Time takes place on Wednesdays at noon, when the Prime Minister answers questions for 30 minutes. Questions put to the Prime Minister simply request that the Prime Minister list his engagements for the day. Over 100 such questions may appear on the Order Papers; on occasions, this number has risen to over 200. An Urgent Question is an oral question put to a Minister without the need to observe the normal rules as to notice. Standing Orders define Urgent Questions as raising matters which are: ‘in the Speaker’s opinion, of an urgent character, and relate either to matters of public importance or to the arrangement of business’.