Part of the debate – in the Scottish Parliament at on 14 March 2024.
The First Minister:
Jamie Greene is right to raise that important issue, which will have cross-party interest. Many of the reasons that Jamie Greene gives for the fact that we might see deferrals or, indeed, withdrawals from teaching are absolutely correct. The issue of violence in schools is particularly high in our mind and in that of the teaching profession.
Again, I am happy for the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills to write to Jamie Greene with details of the actions that we are taking, from the summits that have taken place to the guidance and guidelines that we have provided schools and the support that we are providing in tackling that particular issue.
We are also trying to ensure that teaching is an attractive profession. One way of doing that is by ensuring that teachers in Scotland are the best paid in the United Kingdom, and that teacher starting salaries are the most attractive in the UK. We also provide a number of bursaries for teachers who will work in science, technology, engineering and mathematics—STEM—subjects. There is also the preference waiver scheme, through which teachers who are willing to complete their probation anywhere in Scotland can receive up to £8,000. We are also working with stakeholders on a joint campaign to encourage people to consider teaching an attractive profession.
We are working on a range of issues, and I am more than happy for the education secretary to write to Jamie Greene with further detail of the actions that we are taking.
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.
