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My Lords, before we start Oral Questions today, I would like to welcome all noble Lords and staff back. I hope that everyone has had a welcome break with family and friends.
As it is our first day back, I thought it would be a good opportunity to remind all noble Lords that the House wishes questions to be asked to be short, sharp, succinct and to the point. I think that in some cases we have failed to recognise that Question Time is the place to ask questions of, and scrutinise, the Government, and not the place to give speeches. As I have said before on numerous occasions, it is called Question Time, not “speech time”, for a reason. There is no greater favour that a noble Lord can do for a Minister than to make a speech before asking their question. Equally, the House expects Ministers, when replying to questions, to be short, sharp, succinct and to the point. If we do this, we will have greater scrutiny at Question Time of Ministers and the Government, and more Members will get the chance to ask a question of the Government.
I noted that my old friend the noble Lord, Lord Balfe, is asking the first Question, and that it is being answered by my noble friend Lady Sherlock. I have known both noble Lords for many years; in the case of the noble Lord, Lord Balfe, it is over 45 years. I am sure that both noble Lords will set the correct standard for asking and answering questions today.
Finally, when Questions are asked, we move around the House, enabling Members from different Benches to get in. It is unlikely that, after the noble Lord, Lord Balfe, has asked his Question, we will get back to the Conservative Benches before supplementary questions have been asked by the Benches around the House. I hope that that is clear and of assistance to the House. The Companion is very helpful to all noble Lords. There are useful paragraphs on Questions in chapter 6, pages 88, 89 and 90. The Companion is the agreed will of the House. It enables us to conduct our business with courtesy, respect and fairness, and at Question Time, to ask the questions that we want answered.