Part of Finance and Local Government – in the Scottish Parliament at on 3 September 2025.
Ivan McKee
Scottish National Party
The data shows that economic inactivity in Scotland is 21.9 per cent, which shows a 1.4 per cent reduction since last year, so that number is moving in the right direction. It is worth pointing out that there are a range of reasons for economic inactivity, including in relation to students—as Kenny Gibson pointed out—and individuals who have retired or who are caring for family members at home. Around a third of that figure is due to ill health.
The work within the population health framework, along with the other work that my colleague the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care is taking forward, is very much targeted at how we join up economic activity with health-related support to get those individuals back into work. The work that the Deputy First Minister is taking forward—which I outlined—in conjunction with Public Health Scotland and private sector employers is also very much in that space.
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.
