Speeches by Malhotra.

“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 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 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…”

“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…”

“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 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…”

“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 …”

“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.”

“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 …”

“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 …”

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

“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.”

“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…”

“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…”

“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…”

“That is not intended to not support a parliamentarian to find an answer. There are two issues here. One is—I thank Sir Christopher for using this as an example, as I think it is intended to be, of whether it is a quality answer—where we have signposted parliamentarians before, we have not necessarily had everyone come …”

“My hon. Friend makes an incredibly important point. He is absolutely right that this hate and abuse must also be tackled online; that is why the Online Safety Act 2023 has robust provisions to protect people from online abuse. We have ended the era of self-regulation, and are enforcing strict legal duties that compel p…”

“The hon. Lady speaks for the whole House in recognising the importance of celebrating and sharing Jewish culture, and that is why this month has been so valuable. She may be aware that an event was held in the Department for Education. We will leave no stone unturned to tackle antisemitism. Members on both sides of thi…”

“The rise in antisemitism is unacceptable; antisemitism has no place in Britain. It requires a whole-of-society response. That is why we are strengthening policing, and investing in record protective security funding to keep Jewish communities safe. We are also clamping down on antisemitic extremism, tackling antisemiti…”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Sir Jeremy. I am very grateful to my hon. Friend the Member for Bristol East (Kerry McCarthy) for securing this debate. I pay tribute to her long-standing work on climate and environmental issues, and to her generosity in sharing with us her experience of “squelching” in …”