Part of the debate – in the Scottish Parliament at on 3 September 2020.
Mr Mark Ruskell
Green
Three years on from the Minister’s notice of intent to approve the controversial Park of Keir development and more than a dozen extensions to planning negotiations later, there is still no agreement on the proposal. Does the minister agree that any three-year planning negotiation that was initially meant to last only three months risks becoming meaningless, because the context is likely to have changed dramatically since the original decision?
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.
