Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 3:25 pm on 21 January 2025.
James Evans
Conservative
3:25,
21 January 2025
Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. Cabinet Secretary—. Trefnydd, I'd like to have a—. I can't get my words out. I'd like to have a statement from the Cabinet Secretary for economy over the President of the United States coming in, Donald Trump, and about our trading relationship with the United States. A lot of Welsh businesses rely on a strong relationship between Wales and the United States, so it'd be very good if we could have a statement from the economy Minister about how that relationship can be developed now that President Trump is in office.
I'd also like to have a statement from the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care over the findings that the group office in our party have found that the Welsh NHS have spent over £700 million on negligence claims over the last 10 years, with £100 million of that spent last year alone. That is a national scandal and I think it is only right and proper that we have a statement from the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care about what he's going to do to reduce those negligence claims, because if we're going to see those improvements in our NHS, we need to make sure that the money is being spent on the front line and not paying out people on negligence claims.
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.
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.
