Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 2:12 pm on 4 June 2024.
Vaughan Gething
Labour
2:12,
4 June 2024
Thank you for the question. Again, I understand the response the Member would like me to give, but I can't give it because we're going through the response to the consultation, but it is striking, the point the Member makes, that Wales is one of only 10 countries around the globe that still has commercial greyhound racing. We need to understand more about the welfare of the dogs, the standards that the Greyhound Board of Great Britain has for greyhounds to be able to make sure that they are met and that they undertake the welfare engagement they're supposed to, and we have to deal with the response to the consultation. Now, I can't give you an absolute time frame for when that will be published, but the Cabinet Secretary for Climate Change and Rural Affairs is leading the work on this; we will publish a summary of the responses, and we will publish a response from the Government about how we propose to take those matters forward. So, I'd ask Members on all sides to bear with us, to understand we're treating this seriously, with the significant volume of responses that shows a real interest in the issue, and we'll set out the Government's response as soon as we're able to. And again, I recognise the significant and very genuine and well-meant and kind-heartedly-felt concern on all sides of the Chamber.
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.
