First Minister’s Question Time – in the Scottish Parliament am ar 5 Rhagfyr 2024.
Willie Coffey
Scottish National Party
I welcome the announcement by the Scottish National Party Government of £768 million for affordable housing, which will deliver 8,000 new homes for social rent, mid-market rent and low-cost home ownership, some of which will be in my Constituency. I understand that the money will be available only if the Parliament votes for the budget. Does the First Minister agree that, if MSPs want to tackle the housing emergency, they need to back the budget that releases the money to do that?
John Swinney
Scottish National Party
Mr Coffey is 100 per cent correct.
John Swinney
Scottish National Party
I will say it again, as it went down so well. Mr Coffey is 100 per cent correct.
Let me share an—[ Interruption .] Let me share an observation with Parliament. If we want to spend the resources that the Government allocated yesterday on delivering outcomes such as 8,000 more affordable homes—I think that that constitutes an outcome in Mr Sarwar’s definition—Parliament has to be prepared to vote for the Government’s budget. The time for posturing will be over soon—[ Interruption .]
Alison Johnstone
Green
Continue, First Minister.
John Swinney
Scottish National Party
Oh yes, the time for posturing will be over soon. The time to vote for the Government’s budget is coming, and if members want investment in housing, they have to vote for the Government’s budget.
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
