Written parliamentary questions (WPQs) are questions submitted by MPs and peers to government ministers that receive a written, rather than an oral, answer.

Written questions allow parliamentarians to ask government ministers for information on the work, policy and activities of government departments.

The question and the minister’s response are both published online.

What is the point of written questions?

Written questions are arguably the most effective way to obtain precise and detailed information from ministers. An MP or peer can table a series of related questions over a period of time to build up a detailed picture of a particular policy area or to track a department’s performance.

Written questions process: in the commons

MPs can table WPQs on any day on which the House of Commons is sitting.

An MP submits their question to the House of Commons Table Office, in person or via MemberHub, which checks if it complies with parliamentary rules. The Table Office acts under the Speaker’s authority to make sure questions meet the House’s rules.

The question is then sent to the relevant government department, where civil servants will draft a response for the minister to review. All departments have a parliamentary or correspondence team which coordinates responses to parliamentary questions.

Ordinary questions

Ordinary questions have no fixed deadline for a response. Government departments aim to provide an answer within five working days of the question being tabled.

Technically, MPs may table an unlimited number of ordinary written questions when the House is sitting. However, MemberHub, the e-tabling system, limits the number of questions to 20 per sitting day per MP.

Named day questions

Named day questions require the government to provide an answer on a specific day chosen by the MP. This gives the questioner certainty about when they will receive the information. MPs can table a maximum of five named day questions per day when the House is sitting.

Written questions process: in the House of Lords

The procedure in the House of Lords is simpler. Peers table “questions for written answer”, and the government has a target of providing a response within 14 working days. Peers can table up to six questions each day.

Rules governing written questions

Answering questions

Under the ministerial code, a minister must provide “full and timely responses to written parliamentary questions”.

A written question may be answered by referring to a previous answer if it is the same question or if the original answer fully answers the new question. This is done with the following formula: “I refer the honourable member to the answer I gave on [date) to question [unique identifying number]”.

A “holding answer” is given if a minister cannot answer a named-day written question in full on the specified date.

The standard text of a holding answer is as follows: “The [department] has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.”

A question is withdrawn if a member is appointed to the government or as speaker of the House of Commons.

Rules governing the question’s cost

A government department can refuse to answer a written question if the cost of sourcing and compiling the information would be excessive. This is known as the disproportionate cost threshold, which stands at £850. The threshold is pegged at 140% of the Freedom of Information Act cost limit, currently £600, to the nearest £50.

Questions must be factual, relate to a minister’s area of public responsibility, and must not, for example, ask for a legal opinion or for information that is already publicly available.

How much does it typically cost to answer a WPQ?

In 2007, the House of Commons Information Office estimated the average cost of a written question as £140.

Written questions: usage and concerns with the current system

Written questions are a heavily used parliamentary tool.

In a typical parliamentary session, MPs and peers table tens of thousands of written questions to government departments. In the 2019-2021 parliament, there were on average over 300 written questions asked per sitting day in the commons.

Some MPs acquire reputations for their prolific use of written questions. Rupert Lowe, the former Reform MP, asked 958 written questions from July 2024 to March 2025 at an average of four a day.

In January 2026, a Sky News report found that written questions rose to 90,331 in 2025, up from 49,125 in 2024. From 2024 to 2025, the Department for Health and Social Care saw a 97% increase in questions. The Home Office saw a 92% increase, the Department for Education saw a 97% increase, and the housing department saw a 101% increase. The report attributed this increase to the use of artificial intelligence (AI) by MPs. Submissions from some MPs surged 10 or 20-fold in the second half of 2025 as the use of AI became more prevalent.

In November 2025, the House of Commons procedure committee launched an inquiry into written questions to consider their purpose and use, as well as to identify recommendations for improvement and reform. It came after MPs raised concerns with the committee regarding the quality of some answers to WPQs.

The inquiry terms of reference were outlined as follows:

• The purpose and value of a WPQ for MPs and their staff, and whether this has changed over time
• The interaction between WPQ and the Freedom of Information Act 2000, and any other recent changes that have impacted on the ability of MPs to gain access to the same, or similar, information via other methods
• The limits on the number of WPQ that MPs can submit on any given day, and whether they are comparable with the rules in place in other legislatures
• Whether the internal House of Commons processes and procedures, and those in government departments, for processing and dealing with WPQs are working effectively and efficiently

Parliamentarians can and do raise concerns about written answers in the commons chamber with the speaker, who may verbally reprimand the department in question. However, the speaker has no power to sanction the department.

The leader of the commons, who appears before the House on Thursday morning for business questions, may be asked by MPs to raise delayed answers with ministerial colleagues.

How written questions led to written ministerial statements

Written ministerial statements are used to make announcements that need to be placed on the formal parliamentary record, sometimes to meet a legal requirement, but which do not warrant the time required for an oral statement in the chamber.

The written statement was introduced in October 2002 to reduce the long-standing practice of governments arranging for a “friendly” backbench MP to table a written question in order to publish a ministerial announcement in response.

Additional resources

• UK Parliament – Written questions, answers and statements: https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/