The newly elected Presiding Officer, Kenny Gibson, has already made some changes in his first few days in the job.
The outgoing Presiding Officer, Alison Johnstone, was clear that she thought there needed to be change – and she suggested in an interview with The Edinburgh Reporter that a daily question time in the chamber would be preferable.
And the new Presiding Officer (PO) has decided there will be two First Minister’s Question sessions each week moving forward. There will be no questions published in advance and all will be “taken from the floor” in an effort to create real debate – and little in the way of reading from a prepared script.
The PO is also clear that business in the chamber will be conducted in a swifter fashion.
The Presiding Officer outlined his plans in parliament. He said: “Next Thursday’s FMQs will be 45 minutes long, with questions from party leaders followed by back benchers. We will have three questions each from Labour, Reform and the Greens respectively, and two each from the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats.
“Leader FMQs, debates and statements will have Labour and Reform alternate each week as to which party leads from the Opposition. For devilment, and to freshen things up, I might occasionally reverse the order with the Liberal Democrats opening, followed by the Conservatives and so on – we shall see.
“The week after next will have 30 minutes of FMQs on a Tuesday from back benchers and 30 minutes on a Thursday from party leaders. If back benchers let me know what questions they wish to ask in advance, I will be able to select more impactful questions, regardless of the lists submitted by whips. Some FMQs will still be chosen randomly from members who press their buttons.
“Once we are in our stride, in the week beginning 8 June, Parliament will meet from 2 pm to 5.30 pm on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, and from 1.30 pm to 5 pm on Thursdays. The later start on a Thursday is to free up Thursday mornings fully for committees.
“General questions will increase from eight to 18 per week. There will be eight in a 25-minute session on Tuesdays, after time for reflection and before back bencher FMQs, and 10 in 30 minutes on Thursdays before leader FMQs.
“Portfolio questions will cover two topics in 30-minute sessions of 10 questions, each back to back, from 2 pm on Wednesdays, beginning the week after next. If members are selected for a portfolio question but do not consider that topic a priority, they can swap with any other member across the chamber.
“The total number of non-First Minister’s questions increasing from 32 to 38 per week, plus supplementaries, will enable greater scrutiny of ministers and, of course, a greater opportunity for ministers to shine.”
It is certainly a change in procedure and also a change in tone of how things will be managed by the Presiding Officer and his two deputies.
