Douglas Lumsden
Conservative
It is two years since we lost our friend and colleague David Hill while he was playing for the Parliament rugby team in Dublin. His parents, Sharon and Roger, have been an inspiration. David’s father, Roger, is currently on an epic cycling journey to deliver the match ball for the annual match between the Scottish and Irish Parliament teams, and to raise funds for and awareness of cardiac risk in the young. Roger has been joined by friends and family for parts of the journey, and he was even joined by you, Presiding Officer, as he left Edinburgh. Will the First Minister join me in giving everyone involved the very best of wishes, and will he pledge to consider any ways in which his Government can introduce screening to improve outcomes for people living with an undetected cardiac condition? [
Applause
.]
The First Minister:
I join Douglas Lumsden in congratulating Sharon and Roger. I have had the pleasure of meeting them on a couple of occasions, most recently when they were at Parliament. They are incredible. I cannot think of a worse loss than losing a child. Nobody would begrudge Sharon and Roger just dealing privately with that grief, but they have instead chosen, in David’s memory, to ensure that they raise awareness of undetected cardiac issues and cardiac risk in the young. For that, they absolutely deserve recognition, and they have the admiration of everybody across the Parliament.
I wish Roger well in the cycle that he is doing and pledge to look further at what we can possibly do in relation to screening for undetected cardiac issues. I am more than happy for the Cabinet Secretary for NHS Recovery, Health and Social Care to engage directly with Douglas Lumsden. I am sure that he will also engage with Sharon and Roger on those issues.
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.
