– in the Scottish Parliament ar 21 Tachwedd 2024.
The Auditor General’s latest report on the Scottish National Party Government’s spending and public services is absolutely scathing. He lays bare the risks that are facing critically...
Today we will debate emergency legislation on early prisoner release. If the SNP Government gets its way, hundreds of prisoners could be released from Scotland’s prisons before finishing...
In Scotland, there are more than 10,000 deaths a year as a direct result of alcohol, tobacco and obesity. Minimum unit pricing for alcohol in Scotland reduces the harms from cheap booze, but at...
To ask the First Minister when the Scottish Government last met with Ineos or Petroineos to discuss the refinery at Grangemouth. (S6F-03558)
To ask the First Minister, in light of reported figures that over 2,000 people were killed or seriously injured on Scotland’s roads last year, what the Scottish Government’s position...
To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government’s response is to reported calls to widen access to Scotland’s redress scheme to allow survivors of abuse at Fornethy house to...
With energy prices set to rise again in January, households across Scotland will be facing significant pressures when it comes to heating their homes this winter. During the election campaign,...
This week, shocking figures on domestic abuse were released, which indicated that the number of cases reported to Police Scotland had risen by 3 per cent and equalled almost 64,000...
This week, The Herald has been running an excellent series to highlight the crisis in legal aid. It is not only in criminal legal aid that lawyers are abandoning their...
It is now more than 1,000 days since Putin launched his full-scale invasion of Ukraine—1,000 days of courageous resistance and sacrifice by the Ukrainian people. How has the Scottish...
Due to factors including a sustained decline in public funding, Robert Gordon University might have to make up to 135 redundancies. The University of Dundee, with a £30 million deficit, has...
The First Minister might have seen reports that airport travel company CAVU, which has taken over a passenger lounge at Edinburgh airport, intends to make 16 people redundant by exploiting a...
Last week, the Post Office announced the closure of all 115 Crown post office branches that are owned directly by the United Kingdom Labour Government, with the loss of up to 1,000 jobs. One of...
The First Minister will be aware of the recently published “Valuing Carers” report, which highlights that, according to data collated from the 2022 census, the value of unpaid carers...
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.
