Oral Answers to Questions — Agriculture – in the House of Commons am ar 27 Ebrill 1944.
Mr Ian Hannah
, Wolverhampton Bilston
asked the Minister of Agriculture whether he can give the House the result of the most recent re search as to whether rooks eat more in sects or farmers' crops; and whether it is the policy of his Department to protect or to destroy these birds.
Mr Robert Hudson
, Southport
Investigations into the food of rooks under present agricultural conditions are in progress, but the results are not yet available. The policy of my Department is to reduce the rook population in cases where, by reason of excess of numbers, the good the birds are doing in destroying insect pests, etc., is outweighed by the harm of their attack on crops and grain.
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.
