Part of the debate – in the Scottish Parliament at 4:48 pm on 3 September 2024.
Jenny Gilruth
Scottish National Party
4:48,
3 September 2024
Yes, it will empower headteachers to undertake a mobile phone ban. Many schools already have one. I read a piece in one of the newspapers in relation to Mr Paterson’s views on the issue. I am slightly concerned that he does not understand the limitations on my powers as Cabinet secretary. I cannot enforce a national ban—I do not have that power. However, local authorities, who run our schools, have that power. That is why I trust Scotland’s headteachers to get it right in their schools. I support Scotland’s headteachers in taking the right decisions for the young people in their care. I am not sure whether Mr Paterson disagrees with that statement, but I do not.
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.
