Newly elected First Minister Alex Salmond has announced the structure and nominations for the Scottish Executive cabinet, which is subject to approval by the Scottish Parliament in a vote today.
The structure includes the First Minister and five Cabinet Secretaries. The First Minister will be supported by two Ministers, a Minister for Parliamentary Business, set to be Bruce Crawford, and a Minister for Europe, External Affairs and Culture, nominated to be Linda Fabiani.
The Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Sustainable Growth nominee is John Swinney, who will have responsibility for areas such as the economy, the Scottish budget, public service reform, de-regulation and local government. There will also be a Minister for Enterprise, Energy and Tourism, with the nomination being Jim Mather, and a Minister for Transport, Infrastructure and Climate Change, Stewart Stevenson.
The Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning is to be Fiona Hyslop, and within that department, the Minister for Schools and Skills will be Maureen Watt. The Minister for Children and Early Years will be Adam Ingram.
Nicola Sturgeon, who will act as Deputy First Minister, is also the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing, with Shona Robison nominated to be Minister for Public Health, and the Minister for Communities and Sport to be Stewart Maxwell.
The Cabinet Secretary for Justice is to be Kenny MacAskill, with a Minister for Community Safety, Fergus Ewing, being appointed.
The fifth Cabinet Secretary will be for Rural Affairs and the Environment, who will be Richard Lochhead, with a Minister for the Environment being Michael Russell.
It has been confirmed that Cabinet Secretaries will be in a pay grade similar to those who held the job previously known as ‘Minister’, with Ministers now being paid as those formerly known as Deputy Ministers were paid.
It was also confirmed that Salmond has spoken to Scottish Secretary Douglas Alexander since his appointment by the Scottish Parliament this morning and that the Queen has signed the Royal Warrant, sealing Salmond’s role as First Minister. Salmond will be sworn in by the Lord President of the Court of Session today, which will confirm him as First Minister and Keeper of the Great Seal of Scotland.
Speaking about the Cabinet nominations, Labour leader Jack McConnell said: "Those who want to build up Scotland will be severely disappointed by this badly prepared rearrangement of Ministerial Departments. This is change for change's sake, but the impact could be very damaging.
"Many will rightly question the way in which Culture, Sport and Housing have been deprioritised. But the worst - and most significant - decision is that to split economic development from skills and higher education.
"Scotland's successful efforts to combine enterprise policy with lifelong learning are being copied elsewhere in Europe precisely because they have led to the highest employment in the UK, awards for human resource policy, and significant gains in inward investment. This split risks Scotland's recent economic success, and even now at this late stage, Alex Salmond should think again before implementing this folly."
Green Party co-convener Robin Harper said: "We congratulate the new ministerial team on their appointments. We look forward to working constructively with them where possible, and challenging them where necessary.
"In an era of minority government the new ministers will understand their responsibility to seek common ground, and we will work to ensure that the new Executive delivers on the commitment to place climate change at the heart of its agenda."
One person has commented on this article. 1. health co ordinator for St. Peter's R.C. Primary School, 74, Du
angela robertson, Unregistered We are very, very interested in promoting health in our school and we read with interest the article 'Too few young cooks can even manage a broth, written by Toby McDonald for the Scottish Mail. We have employed a Home Economics Teacher, Mrs. A Keir, liaised with F.S.A. who gave us a grant of a COOKIT Set and now a further £1000 to enable us to continue on our VENTURE FOR THE SCHOOL OF EXCELLENCE, 'CIY'. This school is in a disadvantaged area and children have already learned how to make sandwiches, pizzas, soup, ginger bread men,soup,scottish oat cakes, chocolate chip cookies and they are also learning to read labels for washing instructions and ironing their cooking aprons. We would love you to come and visit our school and raise our profile on all the good work that is going on here and maybe we could log into any innovative work you have ongoing or up and coming. We want to be involved. Please come and visit us and see the children cooking. Thank you. Angela Robertson, Health Co-Ordinator, St. Peter's R.C. Primary School, 74, Dunbar Street, Old Aberdeen, AB24 3UJ.
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