Each Question Time has a fixed number of questions on the Order Paper, depending on how long it lasts. Because more MPs submit a question than there are slots available, a ballot (known as the 'shuffle') is run on a computer programme, soon after the deadline for tabling questions has passed. This decides which questions are to be asked and in which order.
If you are successful in the shuffle, you will receive an email and a notification on the online MemberHub. The list of MPs who have been successful in the shuffle is available in the Table Office from around 2.30pm on the day the shuffle takes place three to five sitting days before the Question Time takes place. The results are also published on the Table Office page on ParliNet, and printed the following day in Future Day Orals, and then in the Order Paper, in the sequence in which they will be called in the Chamber.
Not all the questions on the Order Paper will necessarily be reached, because the time for oral questions might run out. If your question has been selected in the shuffle and printed in the Order Paper, but is not reached in the Chamber, the department will provide a written answer.
If you declared a relevant interest, an [R] appears beside the question when it is printed. Beyond the fixed number of questions for each department, questions are treated as ‘lost’ and are not printed in the Order Paper. If this happens to your question and you would still like it answered, you will need to re-table it for written answer.