First Minister’s Question Time – in the Scottish Parliament at on 9 October 2025.
Alexander Stewart
Conservative
A recent report has uncovered that NHS patients in my region and across Scotland were forced to receive electric shock treatment against their will almost 1,100 times last year. In around 2,000 cases out of 4,000, that outdated procedure was performed on people who, because of their mental state, were deemed incapable of giving consent. How will the Scottish Government act to ensure that vulnerable patients are protected from receiving that ethically unacceptable procedure?
John Swinney
Scottish National Party
If Mr Stewart writes to me, I will explore that in more detail. The issue merits a deeper answer than I can offer him at this stage. My first reaction would be that such judgments have to be made on the basis of clinical opinion, but Mr Stewart raises a wider and more significant issue, which I would rather have the opportunity to explore. If he would care to write to me, I will give him a substantive response.
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.
