– in the Scottish Parliament at 4:42 pm on 6 June 2024.
Liam McArthur
Liberal Democrat
4:42,
6 June 2024
On a point of order, Presiding Officer. I apologise to you and to members. I will be as brief as I can.
At First Minister’s Question Time earlier today, I invited the Deputy First Minister to commit to providing on-going support for the international island games, which will take place in Orkney, and to congratulate young athletes from Orkney and Shetland on having taken part in last weekend’s junior intercounty competition. At the time, I should have declared my interest as the former chair of the Orkney islands games bid committee.
While I am on my feet, let me declare an interest as the uncle of Emily McArthur, who won the 400m and 800m races before joining her sister, Ella McArthur, and the rest of the hockey team to beat the Shetland team 2–1. I recognise that this is not a point of order, and I also recognise that Emily and Ella McArthur will be mortified by this. [ Laughter .] However, in the interests of transparency, I thought it important to put that on the record. [ Applause .]
Alison Johnstone
Green
It is probably fair to say that that is the first time that a non-point of order has been applauded so warmly in the chamber. I am not going to add anything to that, Mr McArthur—you are well aware that it is not a point of order—but your sentiments and comments are on the record.
We have concluded the debate on the Bankruptcy and Diligence (Scotland) Bill at stage 3. We will now move to the next item of business.
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.
