Part of Portfolio Question Time – in the Scottish Parliament at 2:30 pm on 2 May 2024.
Fiona Hyslop
Scottish National Party
2:30,
2 May 2024
I have engaged directly with Douglas Chapman MP, who has been pursuing the issue, and there have been discussions with DFDS and the relevant ports.
I also wrote to the UK Government, and subsequently met Lord Davies of Gower, the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Transport, regarding the issue on 5 February. He confirmed that the UK Government is not in a position to financially support a new service from Rosyth. He highlighted the competitive nature of the ferry sector, which I referred to. Services from UK ports to destinations across Europe have to operate on a commercial basis, and there is a risk of potential litigation should other operators consider such support to be a subsidy. However, that does not stop us from continuing to have our discussions and dialogue and trying to be creative about what can be done.
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.
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.
