Speeches by Malhotra.

“That is a very important question, and I know that the Committee has asked that because there is a triangle of volume, speed and quality. I will come back to the improvements we have made. There has recently been an increase in the number of responses and in timeliness. The quality comes with how the drafts go to Minis…”

“One of our concerns is about the use of AI in asking questions. You cannot say for sure, but it certainly feels that that has been the case, and we raised this in my response to the Committee. There might be a press release, for example, and suddenly you have a load of questions asked about it instantly. In relation to…”

“I recognise that there are different views on this. My view is probably influenced by how I have used both types of WPQ in the past. There is a point to raise about what the options are for MPs. It is really hard, especially for new MPs. I am still learning about things in some ways. I think, “Hang on a minute—I actual…”

“Redrafting has dropped significantly. It is in the single figures—just 5% now.”

“I am not sure I would say that. I am sure that everything answered would have been as true as it was known at the time. What has been helpful about the Humble Address process is being able to go through in extraordinary amounts of detail what was known and what could be shared and so on. It may be something that Aidan …”

“I have another point to make, but first I want to put on the record my thanks to FCDO officials. An extraordinary amount of work has gone into looking for improvements. To build on what Aiden said, we are looking to bring in a new case management system—that is likely to be from early next year. We will then be able to…”

“In relation to Lord Mandelson—it may be helpful for Aidan to come in on this as well—the Government sought throughout the Humble Address process to co-ordinate across Government to ensure that Parliament’s instructions were fully responded to.”

“Named day questions are, by their nature, more demanding, because you have three days rather than five. I have some personal sympathy with having both, having been an Opposition parliamentarian for 13 long years. It is important to recognise that although we have those demands, we have tried to streamline our systems a…”

“I don’t think it is. That is partly because the parliamentary office—Aiden may want to come in on this—has been fairly consistent in terms of resource. We have wanted to implement more by way of changes to the system as a whole: improving the way officials are doing their triaging, improving the way officials work with…”

“I am very happy to share the process—Aidan may also want to speak. Questions come into the Department basically overnight. It is a very early start for the team; from 6 am or 7 am, they are involved in triaging questions, giving some consideration to whether they might be grouped and looking at whether they may have be…”

“I would not suggest that colleagues are slow. There has been significant demand on two Ministers, who have answered 62% of all Foreign Office parliamentary questions since the general election. It will not surprise you that the biggest burden has fallen on the Minister for the Middle East, and secondly on Minister Doug…”

“I think we all do. I will talk about those a bit more, because there are two different issues. One is where parliamentarians may want to see more, and the question might be whether anything has materially changed since the first question, such that the answer could or should be different. The second might be where ther…”

“We have had that debate. To date, we have sought to look at where we can streamline the processes. That is making a significant difference in the latest data for the last few months. Part of that is the reduced redrafting because of the earlier engagement, but one of the other innovations—I say innovation because we ar…”

“It is very helpful to work through the changes. First, it is worth saying that there was a tightening up of the central processes with the parliamentary office, and that relates to a reformed triage system. As part of that work, we strengthened the training given to staff on parliamentary question processes and on why …”

“Part of the reason is more effective triaging and signposting to where a similar question has been asked before, which reduces redrafts. Over time, Ministers’ preferences are also better known to the parliamentary office teams. That has been very important because—you are absolutely right—it reduces reworking and missi…”

“I will start by saying that we in the Foreign Office take written parliamentary questions and our responses to Parliament extremely seriously. It is also clear that the Department’s performance during that time was unacceptable. While that was before I was at the Department, I apologise for that. The previous Foreign S…”

“I am Seema Malhotra, the Minister for the Indo-Pacific. I have responsibility for departmental operations at the Foreign Office. I am also the Member of Parliament for Feltham and Heston.”

“Okay. I am not familiar with your particular question, so Aidan may want to come back on that. What I will say, because it is relevant to the Committee’s work on the Humble Address, is that there was a large number of questions, particularly between February and June this year, that were within the scope of the Humble …”

“I appreciate the question. I would highlight two things. One is the impact of Ministers’ travel; sometimes Ministers can be away for one or two weeks in the month. Secondly, some of the changes—particularly the change in February 2025, with the departure of Minister Dodds, and the change in Government policy on interna…”

“I think the answer referred to where information may be available and how the FCDO will be able to update on contracts and payments in the usual way. It can be very difficult to find individual contracts and items, and we do not normally necessarily comment in that way. Correct me if I have mistaken this for something …”