The Presiding Officer, Kenneth Gibson MSP, announced on Thursday 21 May 2026 proposed changes to the parliamentary week.
This short blog explains the Presiding Officer’s proposals for the parliamentary week.
The parliamentary week
The Standing Orders of the Parliament (Rule 2.2.3) state that the “normal Parliamentary week” is:
between the hours of 14:30 and 17:30 on Monday, 09:15 and 17:30 on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday and 09:30 and 12:30 on Friday.
The Parliament may meet at other times due to an emergency, or as specified in Standing Orders (Rule 2.2). A meeting may, for example, “continue to 19:00 on Wednesday if the Parliament so decides on a motion of the Parliamentary Bureau”. The Parliament can also decide to sit late on agreement of a business motion.
Changes announced by the Presiding Officer
A series of proposed changes were announced by the Presiding Officer which aim to make the Parliament more “topical and effective”, and to “make Government more accountable to Parliament”. The Presiding Officer said:
The status quo is not an option, and I am keen to push at the boundaries of what is possible within my remit.
The main proposals for change are outlined below.
Chamber start and finish time
From the week of 8th June 2026, the Parliament will meet from 14:00 to 17:30 on Tuesdays and Wednesdays and from 13:30 to 17:00 on Thursdays. The later start for Chamber business on a Thursday is to allow committees which meet on a Thursday morning to meet for longer.
Two First Minister’s Questions
No questions to be put to the First Minister will be published in advance, all will be taken from the floor of the Chamber.
On Thursday next week (28th May 2026), the first 15 minutes of First Minister’s Questions (FMQs) will be for party leaders. This will be followed by 30 minutes for backbenchers to ask questions of the First Minister. Labour, Reform and the Greens will have three questions each, with two from the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats.
Labour and Reform (both parties have 17 seats) will alternate each week in terms of which party has the first FMQ, as well as the being the first opposition speaker in response to statements and debates.
The Presiding Officer did, however, add that:
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.
From the week commencing 1st June 2026, there will be two weekly FMQs sessions. On Tuesday there will be 30 minutes of FMQs for backbenchers and on Thursday there will be 30 minutes for party leaders.
Interventions and timings
The Presiding Officer announced that speakers who take interventions will automatically regain that time. Mr Gibson stated:
From next week, time taken for interventions during speeches will automatically be added, to protect the time of speakers who most engage. I believe that that will encourage, embolden and build confidence and experience in members. Although time will be built into debates, it might mean that, on occasion, we run over by a few minutes.
The Presiding Officer added that “Interventions should be short and sharp, of course, and not mini-speeches in themselves”.
Mr Gibson also urged a more flexible approach to the time speakers get to make speeches, saying he encouraged:
parties to be flexible in how their debating time is used, with the number of minutes that each speaker is given varying according to the interests and experience of individual members, rather than back benchers being shoehorned into identically sized time slots.
Portfolio question time
There will be two portfolio question times back-to-back each week. These will take place on a Wednesday and run from 14:00-15:00 (each will run for 30 minutes, and 10 questions will be taken on each portfolio). This change will take effect from week of 1st June 2026. The Presiding Officer stated:
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.
General questions
General questions are to increase from 8 to 18 each week. Again, general questions will take place twice a week. The first for 25 minutes on a Tuesday (14:05-14:30) and the second on a Thursday at 13:30. This means that general questions will take place before each FMQs.
Members’ Business
Members’ Business will take place each sitting day after decision time. There will still be a requirement for cross-party support for a debate, but this will be reduced to having support from two parties out of the six represented in the Parliament. In Session 6, support was needed from three of the five parties.
Cross-party groups will be allowed to meet whilst Members’ Business debates are taking place and events will also be able to happen.
Points of Order
The Presiding Officer indicated that, when making a point of order, MSPs will now have to identify the relevant procedure at issue. Mr Gibson stated:
I and my deputies expect members to identify the relevant procedure that is of concern at the beginning of any point of order. We will not allow valuable chamber time to be used up on matters that are clearly not points of order.
What does ‘the week’ now look like in the Scottish Parliament?
Tuesdays will see committee meetings in the morning. Chamber business will begin at 2pm with time for reflection, followed by general questions and backbench FMQs. The Chamber will then sit until decision time at 17:30. Members’ Business will take pace after decision time.
Wednesday mornings will see committees meeting. The Chamber will meet at 2pm for portfolio questions followed by statements, debates etc. Decision time will be at 17:30 and Members’ Business will the then take place.
Thursdays have often been seen as the high point of the parliamentary week because of FMQs. The new timings mean that Thursdays will now look a little different. Committees will be able to meet up until 13:30. General questions will run from 13:30 to 14:00 and leaders’ FMQs will run from 14:00 to 14:30. The Chamber will then sit until 5pm and be followed by Members’ Business.
What’s next?
Although the changes announced take effect, in some cases, as soon as next week, the Presiding Officer hinted that more change may be to come. In closing Mr Gibson told the Chamber:
Colleagues, many issues have still to be deliberated over, agreed and brought forward, and in that I seek the help of all members. We want this Parliament to be more impactful and effective, so please feel free to discuss with me or my deputies your ideas, as some members have already done.
Sarah McKay, SPICe research