Oral Answers to Questions — Hong Kong – in the House of Commons am 12:00 am ar 12 Mawrth 1947.
Mr Thomas Reid
, Swindon
12:00,
12 Mawrth 1947
asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies what loans or gifts have been made to Hong Kong since the end of the war by the British Government.
Mr. Creech Jones:
From the liberation of the territory in September, 1945, up to the date of re-establishment of Civil Government on 1st May, 1946, His Majesty's Government advanced £1,145,000 in respect of expenditure chargeable to Hong Kong Government funds, in addition to meeting the net cost of the military administration. It is estimated that His Majesty's Government will require to make further advances, totalling approximately £1,200,000, during the current financial year.
Mr Thomas Reid
, Swindon
Are these further advances to be gifts or loans?
Mr Ronald Ross
, County Londonderry
On the repayment of the loans, will the Minister undertake that the Chinese community, and, in particular, recent arrivals, bear their fair share, and the European population do not have to bear an undue proportion in Hong Kong?
Sir Henry Legge-Bourke
, Isle of Ely
Will the Minister say whether the amount was contributed or derived in any way from Japanese exports, from which appropriation had been made in aid in the original Army Estimates?
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.
