Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 1:33 pm on 26 May 2021.
Mark Drakeford
Labour
1:33,
26 May 2021
Well, Llywydd, thank you very much to Rhun ap Iorwerth for that question. The Member will know that this issue of second homes is an issue on which I have offered to work on a cross-party basis. I wrote to the leader of Plaid Cymru last week, confirming that the Government is ready to consider a number of issues in that way, and I look forward to having that conversation that we will have before the end of this afternoon.
I've seen the Plaid Cymru five-point plan, and I'm sure that there are ideas in that plan that we can work on together. And I agree with what Rhun ap Iorwerth said. We do need to use a number of the tools that we have with regard to taxation, planning, and some others, to draw them together to try to make a difference in the situation that he has outlined this afternoon, and to do it, if we can, in collaboration.
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.