Speaker’s Rulings — Replies to Written Questions—Signatures

I was asked yesterday to consider the propriety of a Minister approving a hard copy of a reply to a written question rather than affixing an electronic signature personally. The Standing Orders Committee, when it first considered the system of electronic written questions in 2002, was concerned to ensure that members should take responsibility for questions that are lodged in their names. To this end, the sessional orders, agreed on 17 December 2002, required members and Ministers to sign questions and replies personally by way of an electronic signature.

In practice this requirement caused difficulty. Both members and Ministers wished to be able to put in place systems whereby they could entrust a staff member with affixing the electronic signature to a question or reply on their behalf. Accordingly, the Standing Orders Committee in its recent review unanimously decided to allow members and Ministers to delegate the electronic sign-off of questions and replies. Standing Order 366(3)(b), while requiring questions and replies to be signed, no longer requires members to affix an electronic signature to a question or a reply personally.

This change was made on the basis that the responsibility for the question or reply remains with the member. Any compromise of the integrity of the system that allowed a non-member to lodge a question or reply without the specific authorisation of the member or Minister would remain a contempt. But the way in which such authorisation is given is entirely a matter for each individual member or Minister. The Minister’s practice of authorising the affixing of an electronic signature by signing a hard copy of the reply is therefore perfectly proper.