General Question Time – in the Scottish Parliament at on 2 June 2026.
Liam McArthur
Liberal Democrat
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to improve the resilience of island communities. (S7O-00006)
Gillian Martin
Scottish National Party
Our new national islands plan sets out a programme of targeted actions that are collectively aimed at advancing social, economic and cultural prosperity on our islands and strengthening their long-term resilience. Delivery of the plan is supported by a dedicated £6.25 million budget in 2026-27, in addition to continued island investments across all Government portfolios.
That funding will continue to support projects such as the development of Kirkwall nursery, which received £1.6 million of funding in 2022-23. Our resolve to help island communities to thrive will be further supported by our commitment to establish a £10 million islands resilience fund within the Government’s first 100 days.
Liam McArthur
Liberal Democrat
I thank the Cabinet secretary for that response, and I welcome her to her post. I look forward to working with her. In the past year alone, communities across Orkney and Shetland have suffered multiple subsea cable failures, including a month-long broadband outage affecting Orkney’s northern isles in the spring. On each occasion, households, businesses and essential services have been hit hard. Does the cabinet secretary accept that those repeated failures demonstrate that network resilience remains inadequate in the northern isles? What specific steps will the Government take to strengthen critical digital infrastructure, and will the cabinet secretary agree to meet me to discuss options as to how those measures might be taken forward?
Gillian Martin
Scottish National Party
I want to meet Mr McArthur to discuss not just this specific issue—in the previous session he fiercely represented his constituents on the particular issue of cable outages—but every single area of my portfolio that affects Orkney.
We have project gigabit procurement to further extend gigabit-capable broadband coverage to more than 13,000 eligible premises across Orkney and Shetland. I note that Mr McArthur had been trying to get the provider to do more, and I will certainly do what I can to augment his attempts to get better and quicker resolutions to some of the issues that he has found, if he wishes me to do so.
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.
The cabinet is the group of twenty or so (and no more than 22) senior government ministers who are responsible for running the departments of state and deciding government policy.
It is chaired by the prime minister.
The cabinet is bound by collective responsibility, which means that all its members must abide by and defend the decisions it takes, despite any private doubts that they might have.
Cabinet ministers are appointed by the prime minister and chosen from MPs or peers of the governing party.
However, during periods of national emergency, or when no single party gains a large enough majority to govern alone, coalition governments have been formed with cabinets containing members from more than one political party.
War cabinets have sometimes been formed with a much smaller membership than the full cabinet.
From time to time the prime minister will reorganise the cabinet in order to bring in new members, or to move existing members around. This reorganisation is known as a cabinet re-shuffle.
The cabinet normally meets once a week in the cabinet room at Downing Street.
