Oral Answers to Questions — National Insurance – in the House of Commons am 12:00 am ar 16 Rhagfyr 1947.
Mr Goronwy Roberts
, Caernarvonshire
12:00,
16 Rhagfyr 1947
asked the Minister of National Insurance whether, in the impending interviews of candidates for posts on the local staffs of his Ministry, the special needs of Welsh-speaking areas in Wales will be adequately considered.
Mr James Griffiths
, Llanelly
Yes, Sir; the fullest consideration will be given to the special needs of Welsh-speaking areas in Wales. In the recruitment to my Ministry which is now going on, the separate selection board which sits at Cardiff notes the names of successful candidates who speak Welsh, and the Controller in charge of National Insurance business in Wales posts them as far as possible to offices where a knowledge of the Welsh language is necessary or desirable.
Mr George Thomas
, Canol Caerdydd
Will my right hon. Friend, as well as giving due consideration to these Welsh-speaking areas, make perfectly sure that Welsh is not made obligatory upon all the people who can work in the Welsh department?
Mr James Griffiths
, Llanelly
Certainly, Sir. I know there are English-speaking people as well.
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.
The language of Wales spoken by around 25% of the population. It is an Indo-European language and belongs to the Celtic group. It was made "offical" in Wales by the Welsh Language Act 1993. It is known in Welsh as Cymraeg.
