Correcting the record in the UK House of Commons

The duty to correct

The 2007 Procedure Committee report quotes the House's resolution on ministerial accountability, which says it is of paramount importance that Ministers give accurate and truthful information to Parliament, correcting any inadvertent error at the earliest opportunity ¹. The report notes that the Ministerial Code places a similar requirement on Ministers and says that Ministers who knowingly mislead Parliament will be expected to offer their resignation ¹.

The corrections system deals only with inadvertent errors that a Minister accepts. The 2007 Committee said it did not intend to change procedures for holding Ministers to account for deliberately misleading the House ¹.

Before 2007: five routes

The 2007 report described five ways in which written corrections could then be made ¹. It found no authoritative guidance on which route suited which error, and no simple way of discovering whether a correction had been made ¹.

• A letter to the Editor of Hansard about a minor error that did not alter meaning, corrected in the Bound Volume ¹.
• A pursuant answer, limited to relatively inconsequential matters of fact such as figures and dates ¹.
• An inspired question, tabled on behalf of the Minister to allow a correction ¹.
• A letter to the Member, with a copy in the Library but no record in Hansard ¹.
• A written ministerial statement ¹.

The corrections page and its rules

The 2007 Committee recommended a dedicated corrections page in the Official Report for all corrections of inadvertent errors of fact by Ministers and other Members who give information in an official capacity ². The House approved the report in 2007 ². Very minor corrections that do not alter meaning could still be made editorially by Hansard ².

Each correction should be free-standing, set out the original error and the circumstances, and carry a clear cross-reference to it ². It should not provide new information or continue an argument, and the Table Office checks corrections before publication ². The Member who asked the original question should be told before the correction is published ².

The 2023 review

The Procedure Committee launched an inquiry in June 2022 to review the system since 2007 ². It took oral evidence under the title Correcting the record, HC 521 ⁵. Its Fourth Report of Session 2022-23 was published on 29 June 2023 ². The report quoted the Committee of Privileges as saying there are roughly 100 corrections per year by Ministers who have inadvertently misled the House ².

The Committee found that the opportunities for backbenchers, including the Official Opposition and shadow front bench spokespeople, to correct the record were not fit for purpose ². It recommended bringing them fully into the ministerial corrections system, with cross-referencing, the same standards and vetting by the Table Office ².

Response and the motion

In a letter dated 20 July 2023, the Leader of the House of Commons told the Committee Chair that the Government welcomed the proposed expansion of the formal corrections process to all MPs ⁴. The letter said the public should not have to work through Hansard before finding a correction ⁴.

An explanatory memorandum by the Clerk of the House dated 20 October 2023 said the Government had tabled a motion approving the report, which would allow corrections by backbenchers to appear on corrections pages and be cross-referenced ³. The memorandum listed work by the House Administration on clearer hyperlinks, links for corrections made through points of order, and a central corrections page ³.