First Minister’s Question Time – in the Scottish Parliament am ar 5 Rhagfyr 2024.
Audrey Nicoll
Scottish National Party
To ask the First Minister what progress is being made with the Scottish Government’s efforts to establish the country as a world leader in the green hydrogen sector. (S6F-03607)
John Swinney
Scottish National Party
Scotland has the potential to be a world-leading hydrogen nation, and the Scottish Government is committed to helping the Scottish hydrogen sector to develop and grow. The publication last week of Scotland’s first hydrogen export plan marks a milestone in the country’s journey to becoming a hydrogen-exporting nation. The plan sets out the key steps required to establish large-scale hydrogen production domestically, strengthen existing international partnerships and build new ones to enable exports and investment.
Audrey Nicoll
Scottish National Party
The Scottish Government has an international vision for the hydrogen economy in Scotland. Indeed, research from PwC confirmed that Scotland is leading the United Kingdom in the creation of green jobs. Given that the establishment of Scotland’s hydrogen sector has the potential to become a key driver of green growth and prosperity, can the First Minister say more about how the Scottish Government’s budget will further invest in a managed just transition and about the benefits that that will bring to Scotland?
John Swinney
Scottish National Party
One of the fundamental points in the budget statement yesterday was the commitment to invest in Scotland’s journey to net zero and to achieve the objectives that Audrey Nicoll has talked about. The utilisation of ScotWind resources for long-term investment is a significant strength in the budget. We have successfully avoided the use of ScotWind resources to support day-to-day expenditure, which I know members of the Parliament wanted us to avoid. We are committed to taking forward the proposals in our green industrial strategy, which will help us to take forward investment in the hydrogen sector. That will only be supported, of course, if the Government’s budget passes and we are able to deploy that expenditure in the next financial year.
Alison Johnstone
Green
We move to open and Constituency supplementaries.
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.
In a general election, each Constituency chooses an MP to represent them. MPs have a responsibility to represnt the views of the Constituency in the House of Commons. There are 650 Constituencies, and thus 650 MPs. A citizen of a Constituency is known as a Constituent
