First Minister’s Question Time – in the Scottish Parliament at on 2 October 2025.
Karen Adam
Scottish National Party
New figures from Energy Action Scotland show that energy debt has soared to a record £4.4 billion in just four years, with vulnerable Scots burdened with £400 million of that. It is a disgrace that, in an energy-rich country, so many people are in Fuel Poverty, and especially that, under a Labour United Kingdom Government that pledged to cut Bills, the energy price cap has risen again to £1,755. Does the First Minister share my concern that Labour—the UK Government—has lost control of the cost of living crisis? Can he set out what the Scottish Government is doing to support households in the face of the UK Government’s inaction?
Alison Johnstone
Green
Please answer with a focus on devolved responsibilities, First Minister.
John Swinney
Scottish National Party
Karen Adam is absolutely correct that average energy costs were supposed to have fallen by £300, but they are now nearly £200 higher than they were at the time of the UK General Election last year. I share her concern about the energy costs for households in Scotland. Through our budget this year, the Scottish Government continues to allocate more than £3 billion a year to policies that tackle poverty and the cost of living, with more than £300 million for energy efficiency and clean heating and more than £196 million for winter benefits. We will take forward further commitments in that respect in the budget that will come to Parliament in due course.
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.
A household is said to be in fuel poverty when its members cannot afford to keep adequately warm at reasonable cost, given their income.
A proposal for new legislation that is debated by Parliament.
In a general election, each constituency chooses an MP to represent it by process of election. The party who wins the most seats in parliament is in power, with its leader becoming Prime Minister and its Ministers/Shadow Ministers making up the new Cabinet. If no party has a majority, this is known as a hung Parliament. The next general election will take place on or before 3rd June 2010.
