Oral Answers to Questions — Transport. – in the House of Commons am ar 6 Gorffennaf 1925.
Mr Walter Baker
, Bristol East
asked the Minister of Transport whether, in view of the Report of the Police Committee on traffic problems, he is now prepared to issue the necessary regulations to prevent vehicles passing on the near side of tram-cars from which passengers are alighting?
Lieut-Colonel Wilfrid Ashley
, New Forest and Christchurch
I think the hon. Member has been misinformed as to the terms of the Report of the Police Committee to which he refers. The Majority of the members were of opinion that the existing powers under Section 1 (1) of the Motor Car Act, 1903, were sufficient to enable the police to deal with the matter. I have no power to issue Regulations of the character suggested, and it would require legislation to enable me to do so. As I have stated in answer to previous questions on the same point, I am not satisfied that such legislation is desirable.
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.
The term "majority" is used in two ways in Parliament. Firstly a Government cannot operate effectively unless it can command a majority in the House of Commons - a majority means winning more than 50% of the votes in a division. Should a Government fail to hold the confidence of the House, it has to hold a General Election. Secondly the term can also be used in an election, where it refers to the margin which the candidate with the most votes has over the candidate coming second. To win a seat a candidate need only have a majority of 1.
