– in the Scottish Parliament at on 26 October 2023.
Maggie Chapman
Green
This week, FBU Scotland launched its “Firestorm” report. In the past seven days, we have seen firefighters tackle floods and flames. Our fireys are gathered outside right now, and they are clear that they cannot continue in their current roles, never mind adapt to the future roles that they are expected to perform, with the current levels of investment.
What is the First Minister’s response to FBU Scotland’s “Firestorm” report? Will he agree to meet firefighters themselves—not their managers, but front-line firefighters—to hear directly their concerns?
Humza Yousaf
Scottish National Party
First and foremost, I go back to the response that I gave to
Anas Sarwar. We will continue to ensure that we invest in the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, because it does an incredible job, and, of course, in our firefighters. We have regular dialogue with the Fire Brigades Union. In fact, just this morning, the Cabinet Secretary for Justice and Home Affairs committed to meeting the FBU in order to meet directly firefighters on the front line.
Of course, this financial year, we increased the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service’s budget by £14.4 million, despite the financial pressure that we are currently under. On top of that, we continue to make investments in the SFRS, which have enabled it, through its incredible hard work, to reduce the number of fires that have taken place over the past year. I have read through the “Firestorm” report, and the cabinet secretary will meet the FBU, as she committed to do this morning.
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.
The cabinet is the group of twenty or so (and no more than 22) senior government ministers who are responsible for running the departments of state and deciding government policy.
It is chaired by the prime minister.
The cabinet is bound by collective responsibility, which means that all its members must abide by and defend the decisions it takes, despite any private doubts that they might have.
Cabinet ministers are appointed by the prime minister and chosen from MPs or peers of the governing party.
However, during periods of national emergency, or when no single party gains a large enough majority to govern alone, coalition governments have been formed with cabinets containing members from more than one political party.
War cabinets have sometimes been formed with a much smaller membership than the full cabinet.
From time to time the prime minister will reorganise the cabinet in order to bring in new members, or to move existing members around. This reorganisation is known as a cabinet re-shuffle.
The cabinet normally meets once a week in the cabinet room at Downing Street.
