Part of Oral Answers to Questions — National Finance – in the House of Commons am 12:00 am ar 13 Ebrill 1948.
Mr Douglas Jay
, Battersea North
12:00,
13 Ebrill 1948
In reply to the first part of this Question, I would refer the hon. Member to the reply given to him by my right hon. Friend the Minister of Health on 18th March. With regard to the second part, as this is the normal season for negotiating the purchase of softwood from the European supplying countries, it is difficult to give even an approximate forecast of monthly imports in 1948. The hon. Member may be interested to read the article on supplies and stocks in the Board of Trade Journal of 21st February, 1948. On the matter of allocations, I would refer to my answer to the last Question.
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.
