Part of the debate – in the Scottish Parliament at on 22 November 2018.
The Deputy Presiding Officer:
The Minister will now take questions on the issues that were raised in his statement. I will allow about 20 minutes for that. I ask members who wish to ask a question to press their request-to-speak buttons.
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.
