Part of the debate – in the Scottish Parliament at on 17 January 2024.
Shona Robison
Scottish National Party
Our block grant funding for the budget, which is derived from United Kingdom Government spending decisions, has fallen by 1.2 per cent in real terms since 2022-23. Against that challenging fiscal environment, tough decisions have had to be made. I have had a number of discussions with the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills about funding for her portfolio, as I do for every portfolio.
Although the 2024-25 budget is the most challenging budget that has been delivered under devolution, it still allocates nearly £2 billion to universities and colleges to support their delivery of high-quality education, training and research. We will work with the Scottish Funding Council and the sector on how to use the available budget to best effect in line with our priorities.
The Scottish Government has committed up to £90 million in 2024-25 to employability support. That underlines our commitment to the no-one-left-behind approach as we, together with local partners, support those who need it most.
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.
