Part of Portfolio Question Time – in the Scottish Parliament at on 10 December 2025.
Richard Lochhead
Scottish National Party
The Scottish Government has provided regular updates on the delivery of “A Trading Nation”, our policy on the issue, since it was published back in 2019. We published a full progress report in 2022 and we have also published an independent evaluation of the delivery and impact of “A Trading Nation”, with a further update due next year.
In 2024-25, Scottish Enterprise secured a record forecast of £2.46 billion in future export sales, which was an increase of more than 10 per cent from the previous year. However, as the member might be aware, Scotland’s international exports remain just below 21 per cent of gross domestic product against our 2029 target of 25 per cent, which reflects the scale of the challenge that is being experienced in trade as a result of global uncertainty and the impacts of Brexit.
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.
