Part of the debate – in the Scottish Parliament at on 3 September 2020.
Aileen Campbell
Scottish National Party
I will certainly endeavour to see whether any improvements can be made around the information that is available. The Scottish Government has been pretty open about what it has been seeking to do and the balancing act that is involved in reaching decisions to protect people from the continued spread of the virus.
In the Aberdeen example, we made resources available to support some of the restrictions that had to be put in place. If more can be done to support those decisions and increase awareness, I am sure that the Government will continue to look at that.
I note that the First Minister answers questions daily about the decisions that she has to make. She is open about how she makes those decisions, which are based on the advice of public health experts, and she makes judgments in order to protect the public.
If there is more that we can do, I am sure that we will look at that. Again, I point to the example of Aberdeen, with resource going to support the city during that difficult time.
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.
