– in the House of Commons am ar 2 Gorffennaf 1925.
Mr Henry Croft
, Bournemouth
asked the President of the Board of Trade whether the steel industry in this country is regarded as important and efficient; and whether it is subjected to serious foreign competition?
Sir Robert Chadwick
, Wallasey
As the hon. and gallant Member will be aware from the statement made in the Debate on Monday last by the Minister of Labour, the position of the iron and steel industry has been referred for inquiry to the Civil Research Committee, and I do not think I can usefully make any statement on the subject at this stage.
Mr Henry Croft
, Bournemouth
Does this industry satisfy the requirements to enable it to be considered under the Safeguarding of Industries Act? On whose decision was it that the application did not go forward?
Sir Robert Chadwick
, Wallasey
I should say that it is for the purpose of ascertaining that very question that the matter has been referred to the Civil Research Committee.
Major-General Hon. Sir Newton Moore
, Richmond (Surrey)
Will the hon. Member tell us the names of the Civil Research Committee?
Sir Robert Chadwick
, Wallasey
I do not know them at the moment.
Sir Patrick Hannon
, Birmingham Moseley
Can the hon. Member say when the Civil Research Committee will take this important matter in hand?
Sir Robert Chadwick
, Wallasey
It is a Cabinet committee. It is already appointed, and I should imagine that it will take this important matter in hand without any delay.
Mr Arthur Dixey
, Penrith and Cockermouth
We were told the other day that a Committee had refused the application. Can the hon. Member say what Committee have refused this application?
Sir Robert Chadwick
, Wallasey
I do not know that any Committee has refused the application. It is at the discretion of the Government to refer a matter of this kind to the Civil Research Committee, and they have done so.
Mr Albert Alexander
, Sheffield, Hillsborough
Can the hon. Member say whether in this inquiry the Civil Research Committee are appointing experts to assist them?
Mr John Jones
, West Ham Silvertown
Is the rumour true that is being circulated in the House, that the Archbishop of Canterbury is a member of this Committee?
Mr John Whitley
, Halifax
Any further questions must be put on the Paper.
Mr Henry Croft
, Bournemouth
asked the President of the Board of Trade what was the quantity, in tons, of steel goods imported into Great Britain during the last completed 12 months for which returns are available?
Mr Arthur Samuel
, Farnham
The quantity of steel goods imported into Great Britain and Northern Ireland during the 12 months ended May, 1925, so far as the particulars are available, was 2,044,730 tons.' This total, however, is inclusive of some manufactures of iron, which are not distinguished in the monthly trade accounts from similar manufactures of steel.
Mr Henry Croft
, Bournemouth
Is it not a fact that, if these steel goods had been manufactured in this country, it would have meant 6,000,000 tons of coal would have been required?
Major-General Hon. Sir Newton Moore
, Richmond (Surrey)
Nine million tons.
Mr Henry Croft
, Bournemouth
Nine million tons?
Mr Thomas Williams
, Don Valley
Can the hon. Member say what proportion of this steel which has been imported has been manufactured by means of coal dumped from. England into the exporting steel countries?
Mr John Whitley
, Halifax
That question cannot be answered without notice. It is a complicated matter.
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.
Cabinet committees are established by the prime minister to enable the cabinet to deal more efficiently with the large volume of government business.
All cabinet committees are chaired by the prime minister or a senior cabinet minister and will have a number of cabinet ministers as members. Some are permanent committees while others are set up to deal with particular issues as they arise.
Cabinet committees carry out the bulk of cabinet work and the decisions they take have the authority of full cabinet. If a committee cannot agree on an issue it will be sent to the full cabinet for a final decision.
Some cabinet committees have sub-committees that do not usually taking final decisions on policy, but can enable important discussion of those issues which range across government departments.
Sir Arthur Benn
, Plymouth Drake