Part of Oral Answers to Questions — National Finance – in the House of Commons am 12:00 am ar 28 Hydref 1947.
Mr Hugh Dalton
, Bishop Auckland
12:00,
28 Hydref 1947
As the hon. Gentleman will have noticed, the major part of this expenditure has not been in respect of what he has referred to, but in respect of visits to the Empire by two Ministers which I think served a very valuable purpose. There were visits to Australia, New Zealand, Ceylon and India by the present Lord Privy Seal who was then holding the Office of Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations, and visits related to aviation development to Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Singapore, Siam and India by the Minister of Civil Aviation. That money was well spent in the interests of the Empire.
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.
