First Minister’s Question Time – in the Scottish Parliament am ar 26 Medi 2024.
Finlay Carson
Ceidwadwyr
From a response to my letter to the Prime Minister, I understand that the Department for Transport is still in discussions with His Majesty’s Treasury regarding the £8 million committed by the former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to fund a study on the A75. I am also aware that the Secretary of State for Transport has met the Cabinet secretary to discuss shared transport priorities.
Will the First Minister update members on any progress that is being made and confirm his commitment to work with the United Kingdom Government to deliver the much-needed bypasses for Crocketford and Springholm? Will the First Minister also agree to meet me and the south-west Scotland transport alliance to consider its calls to form a task force to deliver those urgent improvements?
John Swinney
Scottish National Party
First, let me say that we will engage constructively with the United Kingdom Government on the issue. I know the importance of the issue to Mr Carson and his constituents, so we will engage constructively on that basis. I would be very happy to meet Mr Carson and his local campaigners to discuss the improvements to the A75 and to take forward that dialogue. It might be beneficial for me to come down to Galloway to have that conversation.
I am aware of there being quite a bit of uncertainty about the funding for particular projects that many of us believed were in the course of being delivered, because of the upcoming budget process and the spending review. I am aware of a number of projects for which the United Kingdom Government is not at this stage able to honour the commitments that were given by the previous Government. Mr Carson will appreciate that that is not an issue that is under my control, but I will engage constructively—as I know the finance secretary is doing with the Treasury—on those points. We can perhaps discuss some of those when I meet Mr Carson and his constituents.
Question Time is an opportunity for MPs and Members of the House of Lords to ask Government Ministers questions. These questions are asked in the Chamber itself and are known as Oral Questions. Members may also put down Written Questions. In the House of Commons, Question Time takes place for an hour on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays after Prayers. The different Government Departments answer questions according to a rota and the questions asked must relate to the responsibilities of the Government Department concerned. In the House of Lords up to four questions may be asked of the Government at the beginning of each day's business. They are known as 'starred questions' because they are marked with a star on the Order Paper. Questions may also be asked at the end of each day's business and these may include a short debate. They are known as 'unstarred questions' and are less frequent. Questions in both Houses must be written down in advance and put on the agenda and both Houses have methods for selecting the questions that will be asked. Further information can be obtained from factsheet P1 at the UK Parliament site.
Ministers make up the Government and almost all are members of the House of Lords or the House of Commons. There are three main types of Minister. Departmental Ministers are in charge of Government Departments. The Government is divided into different Departments which have responsibilities for different areas. For example the Treasury is in charge of Government spending. Departmental Ministers in the Cabinet are generally called 'Secretary of State' but some have special titles such as Chancellor of the Exchequer. Ministers of State and Junior Ministers assist the ministers in charge of the department. They normally have responsibility for a particular area within the department and are sometimes given a title that reflects this - for example Minister of Transport.
Secretary of State was originally the title given to the two officials who conducted the Royal Correspondence under Elizabeth I. Now it is the title held by some of the more important Government Ministers, for example the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.
The cabinet is the group of twenty or so (and no more than 22) senior government ministers who are responsible for running the departments of state and deciding government policy.
It is chaired by the prime minister.
The cabinet is bound by collective responsibility, which means that all its members must abide by and defend the decisions it takes, despite any private doubts that they might have.
Cabinet ministers are appointed by the prime minister and chosen from MPs or peers of the governing party.
However, during periods of national emergency, or when no single party gains a large enough majority to govern alone, coalition governments have been formed with cabinets containing members from more than one political party.
War cabinets have sometimes been formed with a much smaller membership than the full cabinet.
From time to time the prime minister will reorganise the cabinet in order to bring in new members, or to move existing members around. This reorganisation is known as a cabinet re-shuffle.
The cabinet normally meets once a week in the cabinet room at Downing Street.
