Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 2:26 pm on 17 October 2017.
Angela Burns
Conservative
2:26,
17 October 2017
Leader of the house, I’d like to ask for two statements, if possible. I’d like to ask for a statement to be brought forward by the Cabinet Secretary for Health, Well-being and Sport on reports that Wales’s biggest health board, Betsi Cadwaladr, which is in Government special measures, is set to overspend by some £50 million this year. I think this is a matter of great concern and has an enormous impact on the rest of the Welsh NHS. If we were to add up all of the deficits that are forecast, we’re going to have a shortfall in the Welsh NHS of £137 million, give or take £1 million here or there. The possible impact it could have on the public could be devastating. We are coming up into winter with winter pressures, and I think that this is an area that would be of great benefit to us, if we could just have some discourse on this, to find out what the Welsh Government intends to do, both from their angle and what they would like to see happen from the health boards, and how we can mitigate the devastating impact that this funding crisis would have.
The second statement that I would like to ask for is a statement from the Minister for Social Services and Public Health on the report into children’s services at Powys County Council. I know we are all shocked by that report and I am very grateful to the Minister for her briefing on it today. Again, I believe it’s in the public interest for there to be a statement so that some of the questions that some of the other Assembly Members here have raised so pertinently this morning can be properly explored. I would like to point out to you, leader of the house, that there is a precedent for bringing forward statements when a local council is put into some kind of distress by the Welsh Government. There was a precedent set when Gwenda Thomas, the then Minister, put Swansea into special measures. This is the first warning under the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014 and it would be timely for us to be able to see how that Act is being able to work, and, again, I think it would aid public discourse on yet another very, very sensitive matter that is in the public interest.
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.
