Part of 1. 1. Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Local Government – in the Senedd at 1:50 pm on 5 July 2017.
Mark Drakeford
Labour
1:50,
5 July 2017
I’m not certain, Llywydd, I completely follow what I’m being asked to commit to. What I will commit to is this: that local authorities in Wales, by the nature of the services that they provide, are often the final resort of the welfare state in dealing with people whose circumstances are so difficult that they require the assistance of homelessness services, or social services departments or public health departments, too. So, there is a golden thread, it seems to me, already in what local authorities do in making sure that they provide services for those who most need them.
My approach to local government, Llywydd, is the one set out in the white paper. My aim is to provide all local authorities in Wales with a renewed, refreshed and extended toolbox so that they have a greater set of possibilities that they can deploy in the way that best meets their local needs and circumstances. And then we must be more willing than we have been in the past to allow them to make those decisions, to be accountable for them to their local electorates, and to be able to respond to the circumstances that they face and are closest to in their own localities.
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.
A document issued by the Government laying out its policy, or proposed policy, on a topic of current concern.Although a white paper may occasion consultation as to the details of new legislation, it does signify a clear intention on the part of a government to pass new law. This is a contrast with green papers, which are issued less frequently, are more open-ended and may merely propose a strategy to be implemented in the details of other legislation.
More from wikipedia here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_paper
