About

How the webchats work

This webchat will run on a ‘question and answer’ format. The site is ‘realtime’ but the moderation means that content make take a minute or so to appear. The moderation is an essential part of ensuring that there is structure to the chat and that everyone has a chance to participate.

The webchat will be moderated by the Policy Team.

The process begins when a participant submits a question to the Minister. This will then be checked by the moderators against the terms and conditions of the site. If the question meets the T&Cs it will then go in a pending list and be available for everyone to see.

When the Minister is ready to answer the question it is ‘activated’ (appears in the ‘Active Q&A’ list). Once the Minister has responded to the question, the participant can then post another comment. If the Minister has time then he too can post again. Only the Minister and the participant who asked the question are able to add further comments to the original question, but anyone can read the question and its responses.

This a pilot site and there will be areas which work well and others that could be improved. If you have any comments, please provide them through the Hansard Society’s feedback survey.

Transcript of questions and answers

Dr Ladyman will answer as many questions as he can during the live web chat from 4-5pm on 9th November. If he receives more questions than he has time to answer during the live chat, he will do his best to answer the remaining ones after the live chat.

A transcript of all the questions and answers will be posted on the webchat website after the chat closes.