Committee publication · Correspondence · 21 May 2026
Correspondence from the Chair to the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, relating to Written Parliamentary Questions performance, dated 7 April 2026 and the reply, dated 6 May 2026
From: Procedure Committee
Inquiry: Written Parliamentary Questions: Departmental performance in Session 2024-26
Summary
The Procedure Committee Chair writes to the Foreign Secretary about the FCDO's poor performance on Written Parliamentary Questions, noting it answered only 38% of named day questions and 55% of ordinary questions on time from December 2024 to November 2025—the worst performance across all answering bodies. Despite a 17% increase in question volume, the Committee notes other departments with larger increases have maintained better performance and requests ministerial oral evidence.
Key findings
- FCDO achieved 38% on-time answers for named day questions and 55% for ordinary questions (December 2024–November 2025), the poorest across all answering bodies
- Performance deteriorated sharply from 62% and 74% respectively in the first months of the 2024–26 session (up to 6 December 2024)
- FCDO received 17% more WPQs per sitting day this session compared to 2023–24, but many other departments experienced larger increases without equivalent performance decline
- Committee has monitored departmental performance since 2010 and expects 85% on-time answering for both named day and ordinary questions
- Committee requests the Foreign Secretary or a ministerial colleague appear before it to explain the deterioration and outline remedial measures
Tone
CriticalTopics
Key actors
Cat Smith MP, Yvette Cooper MP, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, Dame Emily Thornberry MP, Procedure Committee, House of Commons
Notable line
“The FCDO had the poorest performance of all answering bodies across both named day and ordinary questions in this period, answering only 38% of named day questions and 55% of ordinary questions on time.”
Key Quotes
“It is expected that departments meet a certain performance standard, namely 85% of named day questions answered on time and 85% of ordinary questions answered within five days.”
“Having reviewed the performance of the FCDO in the present Session, in the period from 9 December 2024 to 28 November 2025, we were struck by the poor performance of your department.”
“However, many other departments have also seen a similar – indeed, many have seen a much larger – increase, but have not seen their performance deteriorate to the same degree.”
Source · parliament.uk record ↗