Oral Answers to Questions — Prisons – in the House of Commons am 12:00 am ar 26 Mehefin 1947.
Mr. Baldwin:
asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps are available to an applicant under the Channel Islands (Property) Rehabilitation Scheme where he is not satisfied with the decision of the committee.
Mr James Ede
, South Shields
The Scheme is financed entirely by local moneys and administered in each Island by a committee appointed by the States of that Island. Any appeal against a decision of a Committee is a matter for the Island authorities to deal with.
Mr. Baldwin:
Is the Minister aware that many of these inhabitants left at a moment's notice to serve in the Armed Forces of the Crown, and that when they returned to the Channel Islands they had to appear before a rehabilitation committee who adopted Gestapo methods? Is there no appeal which can be made to any authority at all?
Mr James Ede
, South Shields
The appeal is to the Island authorities. These Islands are self-governing.
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.
