Part of the debate – in the Scottish Parliament at on 10 September 2020.
Ruth Davidson
Conservative
We all hope that the app works successfully.
We are learning, as we go through the pandemic, that to get ahead of the virus we must fight it across all fronts and testing is at the heart of that. At present, even with the increase in testing that the First Minister has outlined, her strategy focuses on symptomatic cases, on surveillance and on the sick and people at high risk. She made no mention in her statement on wider community testing. Will the current position be the long-term one for the country or is it a staging post towards mass community testing?
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.
