Oral Answers to Questions — Transport. – in the House of Commons am ar 23 Gorffennaf 1925.
Sir Charles Edwards
, Bedwellty
asked the Minister of Transport whether he is aware of the great increase in the user of main unclassified roads repairable by district councils; will he extend the principle of contributions hitherto limited to classified roads only; and will he advise grants being made out of the Road Fund towards the improvement and maintenance of these unclassified roads and thus ease the burden of local authorities in this respect?
Lieut-Colonel Wilfrid Ashley
, New Forest and Christchurch
I would refer the hon. Member to the answer which I gave on 16th July to the hon. Member for the Abertillery Division (Mr. Barker), of which I am sending him a copy.
Sir Charles Edwards
, Bedwellty
asked the Minister of Transport whether, seeing the great change which has taken place in vehicular traffic in recent years and the increasing extent to which roads are used by persons living outside the local authority responsible for their maintenance, he will consider briging in legislation to make it a national charge, and that any contribution which the local authority would be called upon to make should be on the basis of their assessable value; and whether he has received communications to this effect from county councils and other local authorities?
Lieut-Colonel Wilfrid Ashley
, New Forest and Christchurch
A few local authorities have sent me communications advocating that highway maintenance should be made primarily a national charge. I cannot hold out any hope, however, that the Government will promote legislation to effect this change.
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 House of Commons votes by dividing. Those voting Aye (yes) to any proposition walk through the division lobby to the right of the Speaker and those voting no through the lobby to the left. In each of the lobbies there are desks occupied by Clerks who tick Members' names off division lists as they pass through. Then at the exit doors the Members are counted by two Members acting as tellers. The Speaker calls for a vote by announcing "Clear the Lobbies". In the House of Lords "Clear the Bar" is called. Division Bells ring throughout the building and the police direct all Strangers to leave the vicinity of the Members’ Lobby. They also walk through the public rooms of the House shouting "division". MPs have eight minutes to get to the Division Lobby before the doors are closed. Members make their way to the Chamber, where Whips are on hand to remind the uncertain which way, if any, their party is voting. Meanwhile the Clerks who will take the names of those voting have taken their place at the high tables with the alphabetical lists of MPs' names on which ticks are made to record the vote. When the tellers are ready the counting process begins - the recording of names by the Clerk and the counting of heads by the tellers. When both lobbies have been counted and the figures entered on a card this is given to the Speaker who reads the figures and announces "So the Ayes [or Noes] have it". In the House of Lords the process is the same except that the Lobbies are called the Contents Lobby and the Not Contents Lobby. Unlike many other legislatures, the House of Commons and the House of Lords have not adopted a mechanical or electronic means of voting. This was considered in 1998 but rejected. Divisions rarely take less than ten minutes and those where most Members are voting usually take about fifteen. Further information can be obtained from factsheet P9 at the UK Parliament site.
