Part of 2. 2. Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Communities and Children – in the Senedd at 2:52 pm on 18 October 2017.
Siân Gwenllian
Plaid Cymru
2:52,
18 October 2017
The use of food banks has increased over 500 per cent with a third of users being children, 31 per cent of children live in poverty, and there are 10 times as many people receiving sanctions at present, with evidence that the increase in the use of food banks is directly linked to sanctions and matters with regard to universal credit. Do you believe and agree that we need to transfer administrative control for benefits from England to Wales? Administrative control—not the ability to vary the level or kinds of benefits, but the ability to bring the culture of cruel sanctions to an end and the ability to create a regime that’s kinder here in Wales and more humane.
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.
