Part of 2. Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care – in the Senedd at 2:31 pm on 1 May 2024.
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan
Labour
2:31,
1 May 2024
Thanks very much. Well, one of the things I'm very proud of is the fact that we've now reduced the age at which screening takes place in relation to bowel cancer, and that is already making a difference. And people are quite keen to get involved in that. Some of the problem though, if you look at the disparities and outcomes when it comes to people who have cancer—any kind of cancer—is the difference between the poorer areas and the richer areas, and we have to do more to get some of our poorer areas to engage in this. So, targeted action to make sure that people in those poorer areas are returning that screening is absolutely crucial. I think that that certainly has got to be a part of what we do, but you're quite right: we've got to get, before that, into the prevention space, and certainly I hope that, with the Healthy Weight Healthy You kind of support that we can put in place, people will recognise what they need to do to maintain a healthy lifestyle.
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.
