Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 2:06 pm on 11 June 2024.
Jane Dodds
Liberal Democrat
2:06,
11 June 2024
Good afternoon, First Minister. A few of us have raised the issue of child poverty here in the Siambr, and I just wanted to perhaps take another angle on it, which is linking the green agenda with tackling child poverty here in Wales. The Children's Commissioner for Wales calls, in her latest report, that we should be providing free public transport for all under-18-year-olds as part of the child poverty plan. The Youth Parliament here in Wales has also supported free public transport as well, as a way of promoting the use of public transport throughout the whole of Wales. And, finally, Scotland has shown the tangible benefits, with its free bus scheme for five to 21-year-olds generating over 100 million journeys in its first year. So, First Minister, would you agree that providing free public transport is a means of tackling child poverty, and therefore will you do it? Diolch yn fawr iawn.
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.