As the transition to new parliamentary administration proceeds apace, Prime Minister Bruce Golding has disclosed yet another innovation for the procedure in the Gordon House chamber.

The PM is to host a monthly Question Time in the chamber, answering queries from the members in the House of Representatives, presumably from both sides of the aisle.

Hitherto, Question Time happened in response to questions primarily from Opposition members directed to particular ministers on matters under their portfolios. In those circumstances the answering of questions depended on the time it took for the particular minister to have the answers researched by the civil service bureaucracy over which he had responsibility.

It is not clear, from Mr. Golding's announcement of his monthly Question Time, to what extent the existing detailed provisions of the Standing Orders (rules of procedure) will be amended in relation to questions. He has simply stated that if he might not have the answers "in his head" he would appeal to members for more time to get the answers.

The Standing Orders set out, in some detail, provisions requiring formal notice of questions to be asked, the contents of questions, and the manner of asking and answering questions.

Indeed, according to the Standing Orders, a member who wants an oral answer shall affix an asterisk on his written notice of the question and the day it should be answered 'being a day not earlier than 21 clear days after the question has appeared on the Question Paper'. There is even more minutiae governing the contents of questions and how they should be answered.

We get the impression that the PM is aiming at being the principal focus of questions about the operation of his administration. His concession that he might not have all the answers "in his head" is obvious acknowledgement that his ministers must bear their share of the responsibility in this regard. They, too, must continue to be targets of questions about their portfolios.

This is important for it goes to the heart of what the function of an elected representative should be. Mr. Golding concedes, in effect, that his head is not big enough to hold all the answers when he anticipates that he will need time to get information from the bureaucrats.

Other ministers and backbenchers from both Government and Opposition, are all ultimately answerable to constituents. If available technology comes to be utilised to transmit live the sittings of the whole House and various parliamentary committees, the answers to questions from the people at large via their elected representatives should be a welcomed development.

And, all of this should be realised, even before the long delayed question of a new parliamentary building is tackled, without further procrastination.