Speaker’s Rulings — Written Questions—Interim Answers

Honourable members, yesterday, Chris Hipkins asked that I consider the use of interim answers to written parliamentary questions. He was concerned that Ministers are giving interim answers to a wide range of written parliamentary questions and, potentially, deferring the obligation to provide an answer until after the Parliament is dissolved.

Interim replies should be used only in exceptional cases. Every endeavour must be made to provide a full reply within the period specified in the Standing Orders. They are not to be used as a matter of course or just because a Minister has a large volume of questions to answer. Answering questions is a duty of office for Ministers and, if they give an interim reply, they are under an obligation to follow up with a full reply as soon as possible. A question is not regarded as being answered until the final response is receive—Speakers’ rulings 201/3-5. If an interim response is to be provided, the Minister should not routinely wait until the due date to provide it. Usually, it will be apparent to the Minister’s office, when it receives a question, whether an interim reply will be required.

I would be concerned if Ministers ever used interim replies to avoid providing answers to questions. There is now only a short amount of time left to lodge written questions, since they may be only lodged up until the time the Parliament is dissolved. It is my expectation that written questions lodged 6 or more working days before the dissolution of this Parliament will receive a substantive reply unless doing so requires an exceptional amount of collation and research. If members feel that they have received an interim reply when it is not justified, they should raise it with the Minister immediately and, if still not satisfied, bring it to my attention.

I intend to circulate a copy of this ruling to all Ministers.