canonical: https://jentic.com/apis/parliament.uk/writtenquestions # UK Parliament Written Questions API Jentic publishes the only agent-ready OpenAPI specification for the UK Parliament Written Questions API, keeping it validated and up to date. The API exposes parliamentary written questions and ministerial written answers, along with written ministerial statements, allowing tracking of ministerial accountability and parliamentary scrutiny across government departments. It powers research platforms, political monitoring tools, and accountability systems analyzing ministerial responses. ## For AI agents Query parliamentary written questions, ministerial answers, and written statements across 7 endpoints. ## Scope Covers parliamentary written questions, ministerial written answers, and written ministerial statements. Does not include oral questions, debate transcripts, or committee evidence - use Oral Questions, Hansard, or Committee APIs for those. ## Capabilities - Search written questions by keyword, MP, or department - Retrieve ministerial written answers by question ID - List written questions by answering body or date range - Access written ministerial statements by department or date - Filter questions by answered or unanswered status - Track question-to-answer timelines and response delays - Query historical written questions by parliamentary session ## Use cases ### Ministerial Accountability Tracking Monitor written questions tabled to government departments and track ministerial response times. GET `/api/writtenquestions/questions` returns all written questions with filtering by answering body, status, and date. Cross-reference with GET `/api/writtenquestions/questions/{id}` to retrieve full question text and ministerial answers. Essential for parliamentary researchers tracking government accountability. Example prompt: GET `/api/writtenquestions/questions`?answeringBody=Home Office&answered=false to list unanswered Home Office questions ### Policy Research and Analysis Search written questions by keyword or topic to research government policy positions and ministerial statements on specific issues. The API supports full-text search across question and answer text, enabling researchers to track how government policy evolves through written parliamentary responses. Example prompt: GET `/api/writtenquestions/questions`?search=climate&answered=true to retrieve all answered questions mentioning climate ### Written Ministerial Statements Access written ministerial statements published by government departments via GET `/api/writtenministrialstatements.` These statements provide official government announcements and policy positions outside of oral parliamentary proceedings. Filter by department and date to track departmental communications. Example prompt: GET `/api/writtenministrialstatements`?department=Treasury&date=2026-06-01 to retrieve Treasury statements from June 2026 ### AI-Powered Parliamentary Research via Jentic An AI agent researching UK government policy can search written questions by topic or minister, track response times, and retrieve ministerial answers through Jentic without managing pagination or complex filtering. Jentic resolves intents like 'find housing questions' to the correct Written Questions API endpoints. Example prompt: Search Jentic for 'find written questions by department', load GET `/api/writtenquestions/questions` schema, and execute ## Key endpoints | Method | Path | Description | | --- | --- | --- | | GET | `/api/writtenquestions/questions` | List or search written questions with filtering | | GET | `/api/writtenquestions/questions/{id}` | Retrieve a specific written question and its answer | | GET | `/api/writtenministrialstatements` | List written ministerial statements | | GET | `/api/writtenquestions/questions/answeredbetween` | Query questions answered within a date range | ## Key resources - **Written Questions** — Parliamentary written questions with answering body, status, and tabling date - **Written Answers** — Ministerial written answers to parliamentary questions - **Written Ministerial Statements** — Official government statements published by departments - **Answering Bodies** — Government departments responsible for answering questions ## Why Jentic - **Setup:** Wiring the UK Parliament Written Questions API by hand means learning its question and statement conventions, building date-range and pagination handling, and parsing answer text yourself. Through Jentic you install once, import the Written Questions API from the API Directory, and your agent calls it with no credential to manage since it is open-access. - **Permission scoping:** This API is read-only over public written-question data, so you limit the agent to the operations it needs, such as listing questions, fetching one question by id, or querying answers within a date range. Every operation is a GET, so nothing it can call writes or changes parliamentary records. - **Credential handling:** The Written Questions API is open-access and needs no credential, so there is no key to store. If you later front it with a gateway token, that token is stored once, encrypted, by your own Jentic One instance, injected at execution time, and never enters the agent's prompt, logs, or context. - **Discovery method:** Agents search Jentic by intent such as 'find written questions on housing' or 'list questions answered between two dates', and Jentic returns the matching Written Questions operation with its input schema so the agent calls the right endpoint without browsing the reference docs. ## Related APIs - **UK Parliament Oral Questions API** — Parliamentary oral questions and Early Day Motions - **UK Parliament Members API** — MPs and Lords biographical data, voting records, and parliamentary roles - **UK Parliament Bills API** — Legislative bills and amendments tracking across parliamentary sessions ## FAQ ### What is the difference between oral and written questions? Written questions are submitted to ministers for written answers published in Hansard, allowing detailed information requests. Oral questions are answered verbally in the chamber. This API covers written questions and answers; use the Oral Questions API for questions answered in chamber. ### Can I filter questions by government department? Yes. Use GET `/api/writtenquestions/questions` with the answeringBody parameter to filter by the government department responsible for answering. This is essential for tracking scrutiny of specific departments or policy areas. ### How do I find unanswered questions? Use the answered=false filter in GET `/api/writtenquestions/questions` to retrieve questions that have been tabled but not yet answered by ministers. This helps track outstanding accountability requests and ministerial response times. ### Can I search the content of questions and answers? Yes. Use the search parameter in GET `/api/writtenquestions/questions` to perform keyword searches across question and answer text. This enables topic-based research into government policy positions expressed through ministerial answers. ### Is authentication required for this API? No. The UK Parliament Written Questions API is a public API with no authentication required. It provides open access to parliamentary questions and ministerial answers for research and accountability monitoring. ### Where does Jentic's OpenAPI spec for this API come from? Jentic imports and validates the official Swagger spec published by UK Parliament at https://writtenquestions-api.parliament.uk/swagger/v1/swagger.json, converts it to OpenAPI 3.0.3, and keeps it updated so AI agents and developers can call the API via structured tooling. ### Can I limit what my agent is allowed to do with the UK Parliament Written Questions API? Yes. Because you run Jentic One yourself, your own rules decide which of this API's operations the agent can call, so you can allow only what a task needs, such as listing or searching written questions, fetching a single question and its answer by id, or querying questions answered within a date range. Every operation on this API is a read-only GET, so nothing the agent calls can write to or change parliamentary records. You can also restrict it to the written ministerial statements endpoint alone if that is all a given agent should reach.