This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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New time for Question Time
29/08/2003
The Executive has welcomed a proposal from the Scottish Parliament that First Minister's Question Time should be extended from 20 minutes to 30 minutes and brought forward to 12 noon from its current Thursday afternoon slot.
According to the Procedures Committee the changes, if approved by Parliament, will allow greater scrutiny of Executive policy by increasing the opportunities for backbenchers to question the First Minister and will afford greater accessibility for the public and school children.
The Executive's Parliamentary Business Minister Patricia Ferguson said the changes would lead to more accessibility and transparency and help build on the success that devolution has already brought to Scotland.
She said:
"The ability to question the First Minister has a vital role to play in the accountability and accessibility of our Parliament. It has worked well so far but we must not be complacent.
The First Minister wrote to the Presiding Officer in May indicating that he was keen for more time to be available to backbenchers during FMQT. I am pleased that the Committee has taken this suggestion on board and I welcome the proposed changes which are intended to improve the overall democratic process of the Scottish Parliament.
"Both the First Minister and the Presiding Officer are keen to ensure that in the light of past experience new arrangements should be in place at the start of the 2nd session.
"A more open, accessible and transparent Parliament can only be good for the political process in Scotland."
The Procedures Committee is also conducting a much more wide-ranging inquiry into all aspects of oral questioning in the Chamber which was launched on July 18. This takes forward work on issues that were identified by the previous Committee in its report on the founding principles of the Parliament, to which the Executive responded earlier this week.
The main recommendations of the Procedures Committee report were:
(i) a change to extend the maximum period for FMQT from 20 to 30 minutes each week
(ii) enable FMQT to be detached from Question Time, while remaining normally on Thursdays
(iii) that the Bureau use the extra flexibility allowed by the second of these changes to schedule First Minister's Question Time at 12 noon on Thursdays for a trial period beginning as soon as practicable and running at least until the Christmas recess
(iv) further minor technical changes to Standing Orders which are designed to add clarity