Part of 2. Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Climate Change and Rural Affairs – in the Senedd at 2:57 pm on 15 May 2024.
Joyce Watson
Labour
2:57,
15 May 2024
I also want to support Paul Davies in saying that some action has to be taken on the Withyhedge site. I do feel that anybody shouldn't be subjected to the fumes that may or may not be toxic and the sheer stress that has been imposed on people. I'm not, at this stage, supporting any public inquiry, but what I will ask, Cabinet Secretary, is that we are seen to support, where that's appropriate, the actions that should be taken on the ground. I know that several actions have been taken and several of them have been met to date. There are a number of outstanding actions that are causing real concern to those residents that need to be fulfilled. So, my question to you will be what conversations you're having with NRW and the local authority to help support those people who so desperately do need that support that we can give them.
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.
