Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 1:51 pm on 27 June 2023.
Mark Drakeford
Labour
1:51,
27 June 2023
First of all, let's make sure that the record accurately reflects spending, because what the Leader of the Opposition said is simply untrue. Spending per head of the population on the NHS in Wales, and on health and social care in Wales, is higher than in other parts of—[Interruption.] I said health as well. On health it is higher—health and social care. It is higher in Wales than elsewhere, not as the Member said in his opening remarks to me.
The health Minister has set out our ambitions to reduce long waits, including two-year waits and much more besides. Of course we stick to those commitments and we commend all those people who work so hard every day in our health service to try to make sure that those commitments are delivered.
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.
The "Leader of the Opposition" is head of "Her Majesty's Official Opposition". This position is taken by the Leader of the party with the 2nd largest number of MPs in the Commons.
