The Minister for Housing and Welfare was a

Junior minister A minister is a politician who heads a ministry, making and implementing decisions on policies in conjunction with the other ministers. In some jurisdictions the head of government is also a minister and is designated the ‘prime minister’, � ...

ial post in the Scottish Government. As a result, the Minister did not attend the Scottish Cabinet. The post was created in May 2007 as the Minister of Communities and Sport, but was renamed in a February 2009 Ministerial reshuffle which saw responsibility for the Sport portfolio transfer to the Minister for Public Health. The Minister originally reported (from 2007 to 2011) to the

Cabinet Secretary for Health, Wellbeing and Sport The Cabinet Secretary for NHS Recovery, Health and Social Care ( gd, Rùnaire a’ Chaibineit airson Slànachadh SNS, Slàinte agus Cùram Sòisealta), commonly referred to as the Health Secretary ( gd, Rùnaire na Slàinte), is a cabinet position ...

, who had overall responsibility for the portfolio, and is a member of cabinet. This changed after the 2011 election and subsequent reshuffle so that the Minister then reported to the

Cabinet Secretary for Infrastructure, Investment and Cities The Cabinet Secretary for Infrastructure, Investment and Cities was a position in the Scottish Government Cabinet. The Cabinet Secretary had responsibilities for infrastructure, procurement, transport, European Structural Funds, Scottish Water ...

. This changed again in November 2014 and the Minister then reported to Alex Neil as

Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice, Communities and Pensioners' Rights The Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice ( gd, Rùnaire a’ Chaibineit airson Ceartas Sòisealta), commonly referred to as the Social Justice Secretary, is a position in the Scottish Government cabinet (government), Cabinet. The Cabinet Secretary ...

. The Minister for Housing and Communities had specific responsibility for social inclusion, equalities, anti-poverty measures, housing and regeneration.

Minister

History

From 1999 to 2000 Communities was the responsibility of the Minister for Communities and from 2000 to 2003 was the responsibility of the Minister for Social Justice, both of which were Cabinet positions. The Minister for Communities was reinstated after the

2003 Scottish Parliament election The 2003 Scottish Parliament election was the second election of members to the Scottish Parliament. It was held on 1 May 2003 and it brought no change in terms of control of the Scottish Executive. Jack McConnell, the Labour Party MSP, rema ...

. The Sport portfolio was the responsibility of Deputy Minister for Communities and Sport from 2000 to 2001 in the

Dewar Government Donald Dewar formed the Dewar government on 13 May 1999 following his appointment as the inaugural First Minister of Scotland. The first devolved executive of Scotland, it consisted of Scottish Labour and the Scottish Liberal Democrats, who fo ...

(which was not a cabinet position). From 2000 to 2001 the Minister for the Environment, Sport and Culture was the Cabinet Minister with whose responsibilities included sport. From 2001 to 2003 these roles were combined in the Minister for Communities and Sport, which was renamed the Minister for Tourism, Culture and Sport after the addition of the tourism portfolio, following the 2003 election. The Salmond government, elected following the

2007 Scottish Parliament election The 2007 Scottish Parliament election was held on Thursday 3 May 2007 to elect members to the Scottish Parliament. It was the third general election to the devolved Scottish Parliament since it was created in 1999. Local elections in Scotland fe ...

created the junior post of Minister for Communities and Sport, combining the Sport and Communities portfolios. The minister assisted the

Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing The Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care, commonly referred to as the Health Secretary, is a cabinet position in the Scottish Government. The Cabinet Secretary is responsible for the Health and Social Care Directorates and NHS Scotland. ...

. In September 2012 the junior post of Minister for Housing and Welfare was announced, with a portfolio intended to reflect the important role of housing in aiding economic recovery and the challenges that face those in poverty. On 18 May 2016 the post of Minister for Social Security was created and the Housing and Welfare brief was split between that post and

Minister for Local Government and Housing The Minister for Social Security and Local Government is a junior ministerial post in the Scottish Government. As a result, the Minister does not attend the Government of the 4th Scottish Parliament, Scottish Cabinet.Scottish Parliament The Scottish Parliament ( gd, Pàrlamaid na h-Alba ; sco, Scots Pairlament) is the devolved, unicameral legislature of Scotland. Located in the Holyrood area of the capital city, Edinburgh, it is frequently referred to by the metonym Holyro ...

* Scottish Government

References

External links

Cabinet and Ministers of the Scottish GovernmentMinister for Housing and Welfare

Housing and Welfare Public housing in Scotland Welfare in Scotland {{Scotland-gov-stub