Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 2:16 pm on 30 April 2024.
Vaughan Gething
Labour
2:16,
30 April 2024
I'm proud of the work this Government has done and will continue to do to support the rural economy across different parts of Wales. We will of course take seriously the work of the cross-party group and the different recommendations, some of which will be for the Cabinet Secretary for Climate Change and Rural Affairs, leading on the food industry, some of which will be for the Cabinet Secretary for the economy and energy. We're doing that, of course, against a backdrop where we have lost nearly £0.25 billion that would otherwise have been spent on the rural economy in Wales. So, there are challenges about our funding, resources that are available to us. Even within that context, we will look seriously at the work of the cross-party group, and I'm sure that the relevant Cabinet Secretaries will be happy to make sure that their officials respond to you.
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 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.
