First Minister’s Question Time – in the Scottish Parliament at on 23 January 2025.
Audrey Nicoll
Scottish National Party
As we progress on our journey to net zero, it is absolutely vital that we recognise and retain the considerable skills of oil and gas workers, who will continue to play an incredibly important part in taking forward the green jobs of the future. How will the energy skills passport pilot scheme, which was launched this week, support workers to identify routes to careers in renewables and clean energy?
John Swinney
Scottish National Party
That is one of the measures that we are bringing forward as part of our programme. We have provided £3.7 million of funding to support the industry in developing an energy skills passport, which will help the transition that Audrey Nicoll refers to. It is important that the skills that we have available to us in Scotland in the oil and gas sector can be utilised in all aspects of economic activity in Scotland, and I am very optimistic that that will be the case with renewables as well.
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.
