My Lords, before we start Oral Questions today, I thought it would be a good opportunity to remind the House that supplementary questions are to be short, sharp, succinct and to the point. As I have said before, it is called Question Time for a reason. There is no greater favour that a noble Lord can do for a Minister than make a speech rather than ask a 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 an opportunity to ask a question.

When supplementary questions are asked, we will move around the House, enabling Members from different Benches to get in. It is unlikely that, if a Member from a particular Bench asked a Question, we would get back to that Bench before other supplementary questions have come from around the House. For example, today, the first Question is from my noble friend Lady Nargund. After my noble friend has asked her supplementary question and it has been answered, we will move to other Benches. I would not normally expect another Labour Member to ask a question until we have heard from the Conservatives, Liberal Democrats, the Cross Benches and maybe the Bishops. I hope that is clear and of assistance to the House.

My only intention in standing at this Dispatch Box and making these contributions on a regular basis is for Question Time to be more effective, allowing it to provide greater scrutiny and for more Members of the House to participate in this most important part of our business. I hope all noble Lords will bear in mind these remarks when participating today and in the days ahead.

I draw the attention of the House to the letter sent round by the usual channels on the day of the King’s Speech. The letter makes it clear that this is a self-regulating House. We all individually need to show self-restraint and apply some self-regulation to our own conduct in this House. As I have said before, if we follow the advice and guidance as set out in the Companion, we will not go far wrong. The Companion is the agreed will of the House, which enables us to conduct our business efficiently, effectively, and with courtesy and respect, and, at Question Time, to ask questions and have them answered.