Part of the debate – in the House of Commons am ar 15 Gorffennaf 1925.
Sir Patrick Hastings
, Wallsend
I am much obliged. I have read the wrong portion of it, because there are many Clauses—I have marked a great many of them, 6, 17, 23, quite a number—in which there would appear to be a discretion given to the Minister. Take 6 first. There the only words are that a representation has been made, the Minister may direct. That is in line 10. Lower down in Subsection (3) and again in Sub-section (4), he may direct. They are all on different points. I think that it ought to be made quite clear. Is it intended, where the Act says the Minister may do something, that that is to be a matter within his discretion? If so, that applies to practically every one of these Clauses. The difficulty I feel is, that where discretion is given by a Clause as in Clause 21, or in Clause 23, under which there may be orders prescribing what may be the effect of a woman being resident in different parts of the country, a discretion is given to the Minister, and it would relate to a pension, it would be an award or decision in respect of a pension from which there would be no appeal. Therefore, it seems to me that there would be no appeal given by Clause 28.
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.
A parliamentary bill is divided into sections called clauses.
Printed in the margin next to each clause is a brief explanatory `side-note' giving details of what the effect of the clause will be.
During the committee stage of a bill, MPs examine these clauses in detail and may introduce new clauses of their own or table amendments to the existing clauses.
When a bill becomes an Act of Parliament, clauses become known as sections.
