Oral Answers to Questions — British Army – in the House of Commons am 12:00 am ar 22 Ionawr 1964.
Mr Colin Turner
, Woolwich West
12:00,
22 Ionawr 1964
asked the Secretary of State for War whether he will offer the Borough of Woolwich an option to purchase a proportion of the 500 acres of Woolwich Arsenal land released by his Department.
Sir Peter Kirk
, Gravesend
No, Sir. It is the view of my right hon. Friend the Minister of Housing and Local Government that the release of this substantial area of land will best contribute to the most pressing needs of Londoners if it is made available as a whole to the London County Council. It has therefore all been offered to them in one lot.
Mr Colin Turner
, Woolwich West
Will my hon. Friend appreciate that this decision will be disappointing to Woolwich Borough Council? In any future release of Arsenal land, will he bear in mind that an offer should be made to the council of part of the land concerned? Will he certainly bear in mind the importance of consulting the council in any future development which may take place in this area?
Sir Peter Kirk
, Gravesend
Yes, Sir. That will, of course, be considered by the review committee which, as my hon. Friend knows, is going into the matter. As I have said before, we have no intention of departing from normal planning procedures.
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.
