QNR – in the Senedd at on 24 September 2024.
James Evans
Conservative
Vaughan Gething
Labour
Our tourism strategy, 'Welcome to Wales', sets out our priorities for growing tourism for the good of our visitors and our communities.
Natasha Asghar
Conservative
Vaughan Gething
Labour
The Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice, Trefnydd and Chief Whip has written to the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero and the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions following the UK Government’s decision to end universal winter fuel payment.
Mabon ap Gwynfor
Plaid Cymru
Vaughan Gething
Labour
Public sector budgetary pressures across all public services in Wales are well documented and no organisations, including Natural Resources Wales, are immune to extremely tough budgetary conversations and subsequent decisions.
NRW is critically reviewing all its activities, recognising that delivery of its core functions and statutory duties take priority within current budgets.
Darren Millar
Conservative
Vaughan Gething
Labour
NHS Wales performance is not where I want it to be. The service is facing record levels of demand with over 2 million contacts recorded every month. NHS statistics for planned care and cancer for July 2024 and urgent and emergency care for August 2024 were published on 19 September.
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.
Secretary of State was originally the title given to the two officials who conducted the Royal Correspondence under Elizabeth I. Now it is the title held by some of the more important Government Ministers, for example the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.
The government chief whip, whose official title is parliamentary secretary to the Treasury, is appointed by the prime minister and is responsible to him.
The chief whip has to maintain party discipline and to try to ensure that members of the party vote with the government in important debates.
Along with the other party whips he or she looks after the day-to-day management of the government's business in Parliament.
The chief whip is a member of the Cabinet.
It is customary for both the government and the opposition chief whips not to take part in parliamentary debates.
The chief whip's official residence is Number 12 Downing Street.
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.
