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Written questions: who answers, how fast, and in what words
MPs and peers put tens of thousands of written questions to government departments every year, and every question carries an official expected answer date. These pages measure the departments against that record: which questions are past their expected date without an answer, how long each department takes, and which recurring phrases its answers lean on. Counted from the official record, no model in the loop, every number dated.
Questions awaiting an answer
Every written question past its official expected answer date with no answer on the record, by department, with each department’s longest-waiting question.
The answer-time league
Median and 90th-percentile days from tabling to answer for every department, with the share answered by Parliament’s expected date. Ranked, dated, quotable.
Answer patterns
How often each department’s answers use the recurring formulations of Whitehall: “not held centrally”, “no plans to”, “in due course” and the rest. Counted phrases, not judgements, with verbatim examples linked to the official record.
How written questions work
What is a written parliamentary question?
A written parliamentary question is a formal question put by an MP or a peer to a government department, answered in writing by a minister and published on the official record at questions-statements.parliament.uk. Both the question and the answer are public documents.
How quickly must a department answer a written question?
The Written Questions system records an expected answer date for every question. In the Commons a Member may name the day for answer (a named day question); other questions carry the date the convention expects an answer by. That expected date is computed in sitting days, so recesses are already allowed for. These pages measure departments against that official expected date, never against a deadline of our own.
What does "overdue" mean on these pages?
Overdue means three things at once: the question’s official expected answer date has passed, our copy of the record of answers is complete beyond that date, and no answer has been published. Days outstanding are counted to the date our copy of the record is complete to, never to today, so a question is not called unanswered merely because the record has yet to catch up.
Can I quote these figures?
Yes, free, with attribution to Emily Politics and a link. Every figure is a deterministic database measurement over the official record with a stated measurement date, and every question shown links to its page on the official record.
Where this data comes from
Emily keeps a continuously synced copy of the UK Parliament Written Questions record. These pages are SQL over that copy: the unanswered board and the league are recomputed daily, and every question shown links back to questions-statements.parliament.uk. For the wider context, see the Parliament guides, the free bill tracker and the transparency statistics.
Free to quote with attribution to “Emily Politics” and a link to this page. Every figure is a real database measurement over the official record, taken on the date shown; nothing is estimated.
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