Podcasts By The Scottish Parliament

First Minister's Questions 2nd October 2025

The First Minister answers questions from Party Leaders and other MSPs in this weekly question time.

Topics covered this week include:

Gordon MacDonald
To ask the First Minister, regarding the potential impact on marginalised communities and public services in Scotland, what the Scottish Government’s response is to UK Government proposals to introduce a mandatory digital ID scheme.

Liz Smith
To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government’s position is on whether NHS Tayside should exempt legal claims by former patients of Professor Sam Eljamel from the three-year time-bar which is currently in place.

Jackie Baillie
To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government's response is to reported comments from the chair of the British Medical Association in Scotland, that Scotland's NHS is "dying before our eyes".

A full transcript of this week's First Minister's Questions will be available on the Scottish Parliament website: https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/official-report

First Minister's Questions 25th September 2025

The First Minister answers questions from Party Leaders and other MSPs in this weekly question time.

Topics covered this week include:

Elena Whitham
To ask the First Minister what assessment the Scottish Government has made of any implications for its work to address poverty amongst older people of recent findings by the Living Wage Foundation that a majority of people on a low-income pension in the UK are unable to cover basic living costs.

Brian Whittle
To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government’s response is to reports that proposed changes to the counting method for NHS waiting lists will result in numbers falling despite no more patients being seen.

Foysol Choudhury
To ask the First Minister what urgent action the Scottish Government is taking in light of Public Health Scotland's estimate that dementia in Scotland is set to rise by more than 50% by 2044.

A full transcript of this week's First Minister's Questions will be available on the Scottish Parliament website: https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/official-report

First Minister's Questions 18th September 2025

The First Minister answers questions from Party Leaders and other MSPs in this weekly question time.

Topics covered this week include:

Gordon MacDonald
To ask the First Minister what assessment the Scottish Government has made of the potential impact on households in Scotland of the forecasts from the Food and Drink Federation that food and drink inflation could reach 5.7% by December.

Murdo Fraser
To ask the First Minister how the Scottish Government will support town and city centres as retail destinations.  

Maggie Chapman
To ask the First Minister what action the Scottish Government is taking to protect renters in the private sector from homelessness.

A full transcript of this week's First Minister's Questions will be available on the Scottish Parliament website: https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/official-report

First Minister's Questions 11th September 2025

The First Minister answers questions from Party Leaders and other MSPs in this weekly question time.

Topics covered this week include:

Ruth Maguire
To ask the First Minister, in light of reports of the rising rate of poverty for families with a baby under one and new evidence from Save the Children that increasing Best Start Grant and Best Start Foods payments could significantly reduce the child poverty rate for this priority group, whether the Scottish Government will consider increasing these payments.

Brian Whittle 
To ask the First Minister what urgent steps the Scottish Government is taking in response to reports that nursing and midwifery vacancies have risen by 60% in six months.  

Paul Sweeney 
To ask the First Minister what additional support the Scottish Government is giving to the Public Dental Service, in light of reports that there has been a 10% rise in spending over the last two years due to increased demand.  

A full transcript of this week's First Minister's Questions will be available on the Scottish Parliament website: https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/official-report

Interview with architect Benedetta Tagliabue

As part of the launch of an exhibition on the Scottish Parliament building, internationally renown architect and co-founder of EMBT, Benedetta Tagliabue, chats to us about her work. She oversaw the completion of the Parliament project after the untimely death of her partner, lead architect Enric Miralles, during construction. She discusses the history of the project, the inspiration behind elements of the design, and what can be found in the exhibition.

First Minister's Questions 4th September 2025

The First Minister answers questions from Party Leaders and other MSPs in this weekly question time.

Topics covered this week include:

Evelyn Tweed

To ask the First Minister what action the Scottish Government is taking to reduce the number of road traffic incidents on the trunk road network, in light of reports of a number of serious accidents over the summer.

Tess White

To ask the First Minister whether he will provide an update on the steps that the Scottish Government is taking as a result of the Supreme Court judgment in For Women Scotland Ltd v The Scottish Ministers

Alex Rowley

To ask the First Minister, in light of SEPA's warnings of water scarcity over the summer and the introduction of restrictions on water abstraction last week in some areas, including North Fife, what action the Scottish Government is taking to secure water supply in Scotland in the face of changing climate conditions.

 

A full transcript of this week's First Minister's Questions is available here: https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/official-report/search-what-was-said-in-parliament/recent-publication?meeting=16549&iob=141274 

First Minister's Questions 26 June 2025

The First Minister answers questions from Party Leaders and other MSPs in this weekly question time.

Topics covered this week include:

Joe FitzPatrick

To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government's response is to the Sarcoma UK report, Unique Among Cancers.

Tim Eagle

To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government's response is to reports that several local authorities are delaying the introduction of a visitor levy.

Marie McNair 

To ask the First Minister what assessment the Scottish Government has made of the latest Office for National Statistics inflation statistics and any implications for its work to support low-income households.

 

A full transcript of this week's First Minister's Questions is available here: https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/official-report/search-what-was-said-in-parliament/meeting-of-parliament-26-06-2025

First Minister's Questions 19 June 2025

The First Minister answers questions from Party Leaders and other MSPs in this weekly question time.

Topics covered this week include:

Audrey Nicoll

 

To ask the First Minister whether he will provide an update on the Scottish Government’s latest engagement with the UK Government regarding funding and timescales for the development of the Acorn carbon capture and storage project.

Maurice Golden

To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government's response is to reports that up to 100 truckloads of Scotland's waste will be moved each day to England as a result of the landfill ban on biodegradable waste.

Pam Duncan-Glancy

To ask the First Minister whether he will provide an update on the Scottish Government’s position on the funding of Scotland’s higher education institutions.  

 

A full transcript of this week's First Minister's Questions is available here: https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/official-report/search-what-was-said-in-parliament/meeting-of-parliament-19-06-2025?meeting=16502

First Minister's Questions 12 June 2025

The First Minister answers questions from Party Leaders and other MSPs in this weekly question time.

Topics covered this week include:

Kenneth Gibson 

To ask the First Minister what the impact on Scotland will be of the Chancellor’s Spending Review 2025.

Liam Kerr 

To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government's position is on whether the home leave for prisoners system is operating appropriately and as intended.

Foysol Choudhury 

To ask the First Minister how the Scottish Government is working to ensure that patients are accurately informed of waiting times for NHS treatments following referrals to a specialist.

A full transcript of this week's First Minister's Questions is available here: https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/official-report/search-what-was-said-in-parliament/meeting-of-parliament-12-06-2025?meeting=16486

The story of the Canongate Wall

To celebrate the Scottish Parliament building's 20th anniversary, our art curator Fiona McDougall chatted to artist Soraya Smithson, who designed the Canongate Wall on the Royal Mile. This part of the Holyrood campus had not yet been finalised when head architect, Eric Miralles, tragically died during construction.

As a close family friend, Smithson was tasked with completing the design of the wall, and used it highlight some of the ideas that had inspired Miralles when he took on the project.

You can find our more about the Canongate Wall on our website: https://www.parliament.scot/visit/events-and-exhibitions/canongate-wall