Part of the debate – in the Scottish Parliament at on 27 October 2020.
Liam McArthur
Liberal Democrat
I am grateful to the Minister for taking the Intervention, although I am slightly discombobulated by the fact that I find him sitting behind me.
My understanding is that the demand and capacity review is due to conclude in November, with the recommendations presented to the minister around February 2021. Can the minister advise when he expects to be able to take a decision in response to the recommendations?
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.
An intervention is when the MP making a speech is interrupted by another MP and asked to 'give way' to allow the other MP to intervene on the speech to ask a question or comment on what has just been said.
