Oral Answers to Questions — Armed Forces – in the House of Commons am 12:00 am ar 10 Rhagfyr 1947.
Mr Emrys Hughes
, South Ayrshire
12:00,
10 Rhagfyr 1947
asked the Minister of Defence what proportion of the 1,050,000 acres occupied by the Forces is in Scotland and how this compares with the figures of land occupied by the Forces in 1938.
Mr Albert Alexander
, Sheffield, Hillsborough
Nearly In per cent. as compared with about 7 per cent. in 1938.
Mr Emrys Hughes
, South Ayrshire
Is my right hon. Friend aware that the War Office are contemplating taking another 21,000 acres of land in Roxburghshire? Will he reconsider this matter?
Mr Albert Alexander
, Sheffield, Hillsborough
My hon. Friend will be seeing the white paper which is being laid today. As indicated by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for War yesterday, Scotland is having a much smaller share of her land used for Service purposes than other parts of Britain. We have had pressure from other directions to take more land in Scotland and less elsewhere.
Mr Hector Hughes
, Aberdeen North
Can my right hon. Friend say how much of this land was formed food producing, and how much is food producing now, and what is being done to repair the consequent loss to the community?
Mr Albert Alexander
, Sheffield, Hillsborough
That matter is dealt with in the white paper. Perhaps my hon. and learned Friend will study it.
Lord William Scott
, Roxburghshire and Selkirkshire
When the land of Scotland is being taken will those parts which are not of high agricultural value be taken?
Mr Albert Alexander
, Sheffield, Hillsborough
I do not think that the white paper will show that there is a great percentage of the land to be used anywhere which is of high agricultural value.
Lord William Scott
, Roxburghshire and Selkirkshire
Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that the land on the Cheviots which it is proposed to take over is the finest sheep land in the South of Scotland?
Mr Albert Alexander
, Sheffield, Hillsborough
I am sure that all that will be examined during the usual procedure which will deal with the merits of such questions.
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.
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.
A document issued by the Government laying out its policy, or proposed policy, on a topic of current concern.Although a white paper may occasion consultation as to the details of new legislation, it does signify a clear intention on the part of a government to pass new law. This is a contrast with green papers, which are issued less frequently, are more open-ended and may merely propose a strategy to be implemented in the details of other legislation.
More from wikipedia here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_paper
