Cabinet meeting: 11 December 2023

• Rt. Hon. Mark Drakeford MS (Chair)
• Rebecca Evans MS
• Vaughan Gething MS
• Lesley Griffiths MS
• Jane Hutt MS
• Julie James MS
• Jeremy Miles MS
• Eluned Morgan MS
• Mick Antoniw MS
• Hannah Blythyn MS
• Dawn Bowden MS
• Julie Morgan MS
• Lynne Neagle MS

Apologies

• Lee Waters MS

Officials

• Andrew Goodall, Permanent Secretary
• Des Clifford, Director Office of the First Minister
• Rebecca Dunn, Head of Cabinet Division
• Toby Mason, Head of Strategic Communications
• Jane Runeckles, Special Adviser
• Madeleine Brindley, Special Adviser
• Alex Bevan, Special Adviser
• Daniel Butler, Special Adviser
• Ian Butler, Special Adviser
• Kate Edmunds, Special Adviser
• Sara Faye, Special Adviser
• Sam Hadley, Special Adviser
• David Hooson, Special Adviser
• Clare Jenkins, Special Adviser
• Owen John, Special Adviser
• Phillipa Marsden, Special Adviser
• Tom Woodward, Special Adviser
• Christopher W Morgan, Head of Cabinet Secretariat (minutes)
• Damian Roche, Cabinet Secretariat
• Catrin Sully, Cabinet Office
• Kathryn Hallett, First Minister’s Office
• Helena Bird, Permanent Secretary’s Office
• Helen Lentle, Director Legal Services
• Tracey Burke, Director General Climate Change & Rural Affairs
• Jo-anne Daniels, Director General, Education Social Justice & Welsh Language
• Reg Kilpatrick, Director General, Covid Recovery and Local Government
• Tim Moss, Chief Operating Officer
• Judtih Paget, Director General Health and Social Services
• Andrew Slade, Director General, Economy, Treasury and Constitution
• Rachel Garside-Jones, Director Co-operation Agreement Unit

1.1 Cymeradwyodd y Cabinet gofnodion y 30 Tachwedd a 4 Rhagfyr / Cabinet approved the minutes of 27 November and 4 December.

Faith in Families

2.1 The First Minister informed Cabinet that the previous Thursday he had visited Cwtch Mawr in Swansea, Wales’ first Multibank established by Faith in Families. The initiative was modelled on a Multibank created in Fife, with the support of the former Prime Minister, Gordon Brown. Faith in Families was working with Amazon and other retailers to distribute surplus goods for free to people who were unable to afford them.

2.2 The government had been working with Faith in Families on this project for some time and had recently provided modest financial support. There was significant scope to replicate the initiative elsewhere, as it helped support the Government’s ambitions set out in the revised Child Poverty Strategy. The plan was for the First Minister and the Minister for Social Justice and Chief Whip to formally launch Cwtch Mawr in mid-January.

COVID-19 Inquiry

2.3 The First Minister informed Cabinet that the COVID-19 Public Inquiry was scheduled to provide an update on the evidence provided by the Welsh Government the following day.

Meeting with Mosque Leaders

2.4 The First Minister informed Cabinet that he and the Minister for Social Justice and Chief Whip would be meeting with Mosque leaders on Wednesday of that week.

Director of Legal Services

2.5 The First Minister put on record his thanks, and that of Cabinet, to Helen Lentle, the Director of Legal Services, who was retiring from the Welsh Government.
 

3.1 Cabinet noted there had been one change to the plenary grid that had been circulated with the papers, the Minister for Health and Social Services had changed the topic of her oral statement to an update on Swansea Bay University Health Board Maternity and Neonatal Services. Voting time was scheduled for 5:10pm on Tuesday and around 6.25pm on Wednesday. There was no short debate that week.

Cabinet Secretariat
December 2023