Part of Portfolio Question Time – in the Scottish Parliament at on 8 October 2025.
Graeme Dey
Scottish National Party
I take the opportunity to place on record that I, like Edward Mountain, have enormous respect for the work of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. In Scotland alone, it maintains in excess of 1,300 sites commemorating more than 21,000 casualties. It is even more to its credit that it prioritises repair over replacement in order to uphold the long-term integrity of those spaces and protect them as dignified places of remembrance.
I am very concerned to hear what the member has said and I am happy to explore it further with him. Beyond that, I am planning to arrange a gathering of local authority armed forces and veterans champions in due course and commit to include the issue on the agenda. I hope that, if we discuss the issue effectively, we can avoid the need to issue the guidance that the member has called for, but I am open to exploring the issue further with him in the aftermath of my meeting.
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.
