– in the Scottish Parliament at 4:54 pm on 12 December 2024.
Douglas Lumsden
Conservative
4:54,
12 December 2024
On a point of order, Presiding Officer. Under the Parliament’s standing orders, written questions about the operation of the systems of criminal prosecution and investigation of deaths are answerable only by the law officers, as are oral questions on those matters in all but exceptional circumstances.
Last week, I asked a question regarding the provision of forensic pathology services in Aberdeen. I was expecting to hear from the Lord Advocate, as that function falls under her responsibility, but the question was instead dealt with by the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care. Presiding Officer, were any exceptional circumstances conveyed to you regarding why the Lord Advocate was not able to attend the Parliament on 5 December to fulfil her responsibilities?
Alison Johnstone
Green
I thank Mr Lumsden for his point of order. The rules allow answers to be given by another member of the Government, and it is a matter for the Government to determine whether the circumstances warrant that.
There will be a short suspension to allow those who are leaving the gallery and the chamber to do so.
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.
