1. 1. Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Economy and Infrastructure – in the Senedd at on 7 December 2016.
David Lloyd
Plaid Cymru
8. Will the Minister make a statement on promoting Welsh arts and culture abroad? OAQ(5)0093(EI)
Ken Skates
Labour
2:15,
7 December 2016
Our culture sector has an important part to play in promoting Wales as an outward-facing nation that values cultural exchange. We will press for a cultural exemption Clause to restrictions on freedom of movement, and for any loss in EU funds for culture to be replaced by UK national funds.
David Lloyd
Plaid Cymru
Thank you for that answer. Can I direct the Cabinet Secretary to the annual Lorient inter-Celtic festival, held each year in Brittany? It’s the biggest festival in France and the largest celebration of Celtic cultures in the world. The festival has invited Wales to be the honoured nation in 2018. Next year it’s to be Scotland. Can I ask what the Welsh Government is doing to support the year of Wales in Lorient?
Ken Skates
Labour
2:16,
7 December 2016
I’m very pleased to be able to inform the Member that I am funding our activity at that festival. I am absolutely delighted that we’ve been chosen to be a key partner in 2018, the Year of the Sea, but also the year of friendship with our partners across Europe.
The cabinet is the group of twenty or so (and no more than 22) senior government ministers who are responsible for running the departments of state and deciding government policy.
It is chaired by the prime minister.
The cabinet is bound by collective responsibility, which means that all its members must abide by and defend the decisions it takes, despite any private doubts that they might have.
Cabinet ministers are appointed by the prime minister and chosen from MPs or peers of the governing party.
However, during periods of national emergency, or when no single party gains a large enough majority to govern alone, coalition governments have been formed with cabinets containing members from more than one political party.
War cabinets have sometimes been formed with a much smaller membership than the full cabinet.
From time to time the prime minister will reorganise the cabinet in order to bring in new members, or to move existing members around. This reorganisation is known as a cabinet re-shuffle.
The cabinet normally meets once a week in the cabinet room at Downing Street.
Ministers make up the Government and almost all are members of the House of Lords or the House of Commons. There are three main types of Minister. Departmental Ministers are in charge of Government Departments. The Government is divided into different Departments which have responsibilities for different areas. For example the Treasury is in charge of Government spending. Departmental Ministers in the Cabinet are generally called 'Secretary of State' but some have special titles such as Chancellor of the Exchequer. Ministers of State and Junior Ministers assist the ministers in charge of the department. They normally have responsibility for a particular area within the department and are sometimes given a title that reflects this - for example Minister of Transport.
A parliamentary bill is divided into sections called clauses.
Printed in the margin next to each clause is a brief explanatory `side-note' giving details of what the effect of the clause will be.
During the committee stage of a bill, MPs examine these clauses in detail and may introduce new clauses of their own or table amendments to the existing clauses.
When a bill becomes an Act of Parliament, clauses become known as sections.
