Mobile Phones in Schools

Part of the debate – in the Scottish Parliament at 4:48 pm on 3 September 2024.

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Photo of Jenny Gilruth Jenny Gilruth Scottish National Party 4:48, 3 September 2024

Oh. I apologise.

To go back to the substance, this is not another example of guidance that is not going to have an impact. It is a three-year plan, and it will be monitored, which is quite different from the situation with other guidance that has been published previously. It will be monitored and the outcome will be published, and that will be shared with the Education, Children and Young People Committee, which I know is taking a very keen interest in the matter.

My final point is that the advice and guidance have not come from thin air. They have come at the behest of the profession, which asked me, as Cabinet secretary, for a clearer direction on behaviour. The profession was very clear that things have changed post-pandemic, and it asked for clear guidance from central Government on expectations about behaviour and relationships. We have responded to that call through the national action plan.

As I intimated in my statement, this is not the end of the road: it is part of a process. I have set out a range of measures that we have already taken in the past year, but the action plan will be reported on every year for the next three years, and that will be the marker of progress.

cabinet

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.