– in the Scottish Parliament at on 9 November 2023.
Oliver Mundell
Conservative
4. To ask the Scottish Government what support it is providing to third sector organisations in Dumfriesshire to tackle inequalities and support disabled people and people with additional support needs, including supporting them into the workplace. (S6O-02699)
Emma Roddick
Scottish National Party
We recognise that the third sector plays a vital role in supporting work to tackle inequalities and support disabled people. I recognise the importance of clarity and stability to secure third sector resilience and grow its capacity.
To support the third sector with fairer funding, we will produce a plan to deliver improvements, including greater clarity in and consistency of existing arrangements. We regularly meet third sector and disabled people’s organisations and we support many in Dumfriesshire and across Scotland with a range of investments, including £5 million from the equality and human rights fund.
Oliver Mundell
Conservative
I highlight the work of the Usual Place, in Dumfries. I have been working with Emma Harper, Colin Smyth and Willie Rennie on a cross-party basis to secure additional Scottish Government support for that organisation’s vital work. It has hit a roadblock as it seems that it fits none of the existing funding options. Will the Minister commit to looking at that again, to ensure the viability of the very important work that that organisation does to get young people into long-term employment? The Scottish Government should support that successful work.
Emma Roddick
Scottish National Party
I am aware of the work that Oliver Mundell and colleagues, including Emma Harper, have been doing to draw attention to the Usual Place’s situation. I know that my colleague Neil Gray, the Cabinet Secretary for Wellbeing Economy, Fair Work and Energy, provided signposting for where the organisation could go for further support, and that the First Minister confirmed that £50,000 of funding would be made available for 2023-24. However, the Scottish Government is subject to the same volatile financial situation that has caused those financial difficulties for the Usual Place, so there is no more money at this time.
Emma Harper
Scottish National Party
As Oliver Mundell has mentioned, cross-party colleagues have been working together to support the Usual Place, which provides invaluable support for young people who are living with additional support needs by helping them to contribute to society through gaining skills, qualifications and experience in the world of work. I reiterate Mr Mundell’s request and ask the Minister to commit to doing all that she can for the Usual Place with advice, guidance and any support that she can offer, so that the organisation is here for the future.
Emma Roddick
Scottish National Party
I am grateful to Emma Harper and Oliver Mundell for raising the issue. As I said, we have provided signposting information and have asked the organisation to reach out to the local third sector interface. I am more than happy to provide similar information again and to speak with the members. As I said, we are all facing the same volatile financial situation thanks to Tory mismanagement down south, so, unfortunately, there is not a whole lot of extra money to be working with.
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.
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 political party system in the English-speaking world evolved in the 17th century, during the fight over the ascension of James the Second to the Throne. James was a Catholic and a Stuart. Those who argued for Parliamentary supremacy were called Whigs, after a Scottish word whiggamore, meaning "horse-driver," applied to Protestant rebels. It was meant as an insult.
They were opposed by Tories, from the Irish word toraidhe (literally, "pursuer," but commonly applied to highwaymen and cow thieves). It was used — obviously derisively — to refer to those who supported the Crown.
By the mid 1700s, the words Tory and Whig were commonly used to describe two political groupings. Tories supported the Church of England, the Crown, and the country gentry, while Whigs supported the rights of religious dissent and the rising industrial bourgeoisie. In the 19th century, Whigs became Liberals; Tories became Conservatives.
