Part of 2. 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 1:34 pm on 4 July 2017.
Carwyn Jones
Labour
1:34,
4 July 2017
Well, ultimately, the final decision on the exact location of any prison is a matter for the Ministry of Justice and not for Welsh Government. It’s now, of course, a matter for the UK Government to seek planning permission. It’s in the UK Government’s interest to make sure that there is full consultation locally—you can’t give people too much information. I remember what happened in 1995-96, when the Parc prison was built in Bridgend, people did have a lot of questions, and those questions were dealt with by way of a public consultation. And, of course, we see ourselves 20 years on—not without teething troubles, I have to say, when the prison was opened—but, 20 years on, the prison is accepted as part of the community, and has created hundreds of jobs.
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.
