QNR – in the Senedd at on 17 April 2024.
Lee Waters
Labour
Huw Irranca-Davies
Labour
Work is progressing well to create a timber-based industrial strategy that can develop and sustain the high-value production and processing of Welsh wood. Next steps include a public consultation on the timber strategy and associated skills plan, with the intention of publishing a final version by the end of 2024.
Mark Drakeford
Labour
Huw Irranca-Davies
Labour
My officials are closely monitoring the situation regarding Thames Water’s loan default. I am reassured that Ofwat have no specific concerns with the financial resilience of our water companies in Wales. The not-for-profit status of Wales's largest water company ensures that money is not spent on dividends for shareholders but is used instead to benefit customers and strengthen balance sheets.
Jack Sargeant
Labour
Huw Irranca-Davies
Labour
The Welsh Government works closely with local authorities and Natural Resources Wales as lead flood risk management authorities. On 19 March, the previous Minister for Climate Change announced the Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management Programme 2024 to 2025, which included £800,000 for NRW to progress construction work at Sandycroft, Flintshire.
Rhianon Passmore
Labour
Huw Irranca-Davies
Labour
There are tight regulatory controls over storm overflows. Where water companies fail to comply, we expect appropriate enforcement action to be taken by NRW as the regulator. We work closely with water companies, regulators and industry stakeholders to tackle storm overflows through water company business plans and better river quality taskforce action plans.
Darren Millar
Conservative
Huw Irranca-Davies
Labour
My sympathies are with all those affected by recent flood events in Kinmel Bay. We know it is impossible to stop or prevent all flooding, but are working to build resilient communities. This year, we are investing £14.1 million in Kinmel Bay under our coastal risk management programme.
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.
