Committee publication · Correspondence · 21 May 2026
Correspondence from the Chair to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, relating to Written Parliamentary Questions performance, dated 7 April 2026 and the reply, dated 27 April 2026
From: Procedure Committee
Inquiry: Written Parliamentary Questions: Departmental performance in Session 2024-26
Summary
Procedure Committee Chair Cat Smith writes to Housing Secretary Steve Reed (7 April 2026) expressing concern about MHCLG's declining performance in answering Written Parliamentary Questions, noting a fall to 73% of named-day and 76% of ordinary questions answered on time against an 85% standard. Reed responds (27 April) acknowledging exceptional volume increases (169% rise) and detailing remedial measures including AI deployment and staff training, while projecting performance improvement to 77% by early 2026.
Key findings
- MHCLG performance on WPQs fell to 73% (named day) and 76% (ordinary) in period 9 December 2024–28 November 2025, against expected 85% threshold
- Department received 11,000+ WPQs in current session, second-highest across government, representing 169% increase compared to 2023-24 and vastly more than 3,961 in 2019-21
- Reed attributes decline primarily to volume but cites secondary factors: multi-strand questions requiring multiple policy officials, repetitious questions, and inter-departmental transfer delays
- MHCLG has implemented AI allocation systems, weekly performance reporting, staff training, and is onboarding additional full-time parliamentary team member
- Committee notes Department for Energy Security and Net Zero achieves near-100% timely response rates despite receiving 50% more questions, suggesting performance gap is not solely volume-driven
Government position
Partially accepts concern. Reed acknowledges performance decline and commits to improvement but emphasises exceptional volume (11,000+ WPQs) as primary driver. Accepts Committee's suggestion for cross-departmental best-practice sharing. States internal reporting shows 77% performance in first two months of 2026 and commits to reaching 85% "as soon as practically possible" while requesting Committee continue reviewing the "sustained and significant high volumes."
Tone
CriticalTopics
Key actors
Cat Smith MP, Steve Reed MP, Ed Miliband MP, Florence Eshalomi MP, Procedure Committee, Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, Department for Energy Security and Net Zero
Notable line
“MHCLG's performance has fallen to 73% of named day and 76% of ordinary questions answered on time.”
Key Quotes
“… we were concerned about the declining performance of your department recently, despite a strong start to the Session in the period up to 6 December”
“… many other departments have also seen large increases in volumes but have not seen their performance deteriorate to the same degree.”
“… the Department has received over 11, 000 WPQs this session, compared with 3,961 received over the entirety of the 2019 – 21 session …”
“… following the most recent Conference recess the Department received over 300 WPQs on the first day back …”
“Our internal reporting suggests performance of around 77% in the first two months of 2026, and we are committed 3 OFFICIAL to achieving 85% as soon as practically possible …”
Source · parliament.uk record ↗