Portfolio Question Time – in the Scottish Parliament at on 22 May 2024.
James Dornan
Scottish National Party
To ask the Scottish Government what work has been conducted to assess any impact of repaying private finance initiative debt obligations on local authority budgets. (S6O-03466)
Shona Robison
Scottish National Party
PFI was an expensive mistake by successive Labour and Conservative Governments that simply did not deliver best value for the people of Scotland, and the repayment of which places significant pressure on council budgets.
For context, the total estimated payments for local authority PFIs over the lifetime of the contracts is more than £15 billion, which is around 4.7 times higher than the estimated capital value of the projects involved.
James Dornan
Scottish National Party
Glasgow City Council paid £61 million last year in PFI repayments, and that will continue for many years to come. We also have the unforgivable impact of Labour’s equal pay scandal, which will cost the same city around £30 million per year for the next three decades.
When the council entered into those PFI contracts, Labour was in power at council level, in Holyrood and at Westminster. Given the financial vandalism of PFI to local authorities, can the Cabinet secretary assure me that the Scottish Government will never return to that calamitous model? Does she agree that that is a clear reminder of why the people of Scotland should never again trust Labour with the reins of power?
Shona Robison
Scottish National Party
I absolutely agree with James Dornan. The Conservative and Labour PFI models were an expensive mistake that simply did not deliver best value for the people of Scotland. In taking forward alternative funding models, the Scottish Government will ensure that best value for the people of Scotland is at the forefront of the decisions that it makes.
Liam McArthur
Liberal Democrat
We have another portfolio question before we move to the next item of business. I would appreciate it if members on the front benches did not have a conversation across the chamber.
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.
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.
