Oral Answers to Questions — Royal Air Force – in the House of Commons am 12:00 am ar 12 Chwefror 1947.
Mr Clifford Glossop
, Howdenshire
12:00,
12 Chwefror 1947
asked the Secretary of State for Air if he will make a statement with regard to the peacetime use of a bombing range at Howden, East Yorkshire; whether he is aware that the land in question is good agricultural land; and whether he has consulted the Minister of Agriculture on the matter.
Mr Philip Noel-Baker
, Derby
The range at Howden was used for practice bombing from 1942 till 1945. Almost all of it has been farmed with little interruption since 1944. I regret that I cannot now say whether this range will be required in future, but I am, of course, in consultation with my right hon. Friend the Minister of Agriculture, and with my other right hon Friends who are concerned.
Mr Clifford Glossop
, Howdenshire
Will the right hon. Gentleman give an assurance that before the final decision is made he will have further consultations with his colleagues?
Mr Philip Noel-Baker
, Derby
Yes, Sir, certainly. Perhaps I might add, to remove misapprehensions in the locality, that were this to be retained as a range we should only use small smoke puff bombs which would do no damage and would not substantially interfere with farming.
Secretary of State was originally the title given to the two officials who conducted the Royal Correspondence under Elizabeth I. Now it is the title held by some of the more important Government Ministers, for example the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.
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.
