– in the House of Commons am 12:00 am ar 30 Ionawr 1964.
Mr Charles Loughlin
, Gloucestershire West
12:00,
30 Ionawr 1964
asked the Prime Minister if he will move to appoint a Select Committee to consider standardising the law and practice relating to the exercise of responsibility by individuals in public life in cases where there may be a conflict of public and personal interests.
Sir Alec Douglas-Home
, Kinross and West Perthshire
No, Sir. The main principle is clearly understood—that no conflict must be allowed to arise between private interests and public duties—and I do not see that the existing arrangements require any comprehensive review.
Mr Charles Loughlin
, Gloucestershire West
Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that increasing concern is being expressed about the way in which Ministers can receive pecuniary gains from policies which they themselves pursue? Does he know that his right hon. Friend the Minister of Housing and Local Government said last week that members of councils should not vote on matters which manifestly affect their own pockets? If this dictum applies in the case of councillors who are council house tenants, should it not apply also to Ministers and, if not, should it apply to councillors?
Sir Alec Douglas-Home
, Kinross and West Perthshire
Ministers have all sorts of responsibilities and Ministers in the Cabinet have overall responsibilities for every kind of policy. I do not think that we can have a rule more effective than that which all Governments have observed up to now.
Mr Charles Loughlin
, Gloucestershire West
But if it is true that it should not apply to Ministers, would the Prime Minister give further consideration to the position of local authority representatives who are inhibited in this way in the work of the local authorities? Does not the right hon. Gentleman agree that the local authorities should achieve a greater importance in the shaping of future Governments, and will he kindly have a look at this matter with a view to standardising the practice?
Sir Alec Douglas-Home
, Kinross and West Perthshire
If the hon. Member will put down a Question—
Mr Charles Loughlin
, Gloucestershire West
I have. It is on the Order Paper.
Sir Alec Douglas-Home
, Kinross and West Perthshire
The hon. Member's Question asks me if I
… will move to appoint a Select Committee to consider standardising the law and practice relating to the exercise of responsibility by individuals in public life in cases where there may be a conflict of public and personal interests.
If the hon. Member wants me to answer a specific question about local authorities he should put one down.
Mr Charles Loughlin
, Gloucestershire West
I have done so.
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 cabinet is the group of twenty or so (and no more than 22) senior government ministers who are responsible for running the departments of state and deciding government policy.
It is chaired by the prime minister.
The cabinet is bound by collective responsibility, which means that all its members must abide by and defend the decisions it takes, despite any private doubts that they might have.
Cabinet ministers are appointed by the prime minister and chosen from MPs or peers of the governing party.
However, during periods of national emergency, or when no single party gains a large enough majority to govern alone, coalition governments have been formed with cabinets containing members from more than one political party.
War cabinets have sometimes been formed with a much smaller membership than the full cabinet.
From time to time the prime minister will reorganise the cabinet in order to bring in new members, or to move existing members around. This reorganisation is known as a cabinet re-shuffle.
The cabinet normally meets once a week in the cabinet room at Downing Street.
The order paper is issued daily and lists the business which will be dealt with during that day's sitting of the House of Commons.
It provides MPs with details of what will be happening in the House throughout the day.
It also gives details of when and where the standing committees and select committees of the Commons will be meeting.
Written questions tabled to ministers by MPs on the previous day are listed at the back of the order paper.
The order paper forms one section of the daily vote bundle and is issued by the Vote Office
