HOLYROOD'S weekly First Minister's Questions session is to be extended in a bid to allow backbench MSPs more time to quiz Nicola Sturgeon.
The move was confirmed last night by the parliament's new Presiding Officer Ken Macintosh.
He said it was the first of a series of reforms he plans to introduce.
Ms Sturgeon has already given her backing to extending the session, which starts at noon every Thursday, from 30mins to 45mins.
Read more: Nicola Sturgeon sworn in as First Minister at Court of Session
The first First Minister's Question of the new parliamentary session will not take place until next week, a month after the election.
Ms Sturgeon will today make a set-piece speech setting out her priorities for the next five years, though there are not plans to outline a formal 'programme for government' with specific details of new legislation.
MSPs are also due to debate next month's EU referendum tomorrow.
However, the resumption of full parliamentary business has been delayed by ongoing discussions behind the scenes on the composition of committees.
The Presiding Officer has insisted on a thorough negotiation between the parties about the number of committees, their size and which parties should have the right to choose conveners.
It follows the SNP's failure at the election to retain its overall majority.
Read more: Second referendum only if MOST Scots want it, Sturgeon confirms
The committees, which scrutinise legislation and lead inquiries into public policy, were criticised in the last parliament for failing to hold the government to account.
With an overall majority, the SNP had an inbuilt majority on every committee and held the convenerships of most.
At an event organised by the Scottish Parliamentary Journalists' Association last night Mr Macintosh said the changes to 'FMQs' would be formally announced today.
Among other reforms, he has already given the go-ahead for MSPs to engage live with voters on social media while they are involved in debates in the Holyrood chamber.
Read more: After the affair ... Sturgeon set for showdown with Hosie in Westminster
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel