Oral Answers to Questions — Ministry of Power – in the House of Commons am 12:00 am ar 1 Rhagfyr 1964.
Mr Anthony Kershaw
, Stroud
12:00,
1 Rhagfyr 1964
asked the Prime Minister which Minister has responsibility for the Central Office of Information.
Mr Harold Wilson
, Huyton
My right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the exchequer is responsible for the total Vote, organisation and staffing of the Central Office of Information. Specific information activities carried out on behalf of a Department are the responsibility of the Departmental Minister concerned.
Mr Anthony Kershaw
, Stroud
That is a pretty odd arrangement, is it not? How is the Paymaster-General going to answer Questions if he has not got any Departmental responsibilities? How is he to answer questions about this? How can he do a proper job? Will the Prime Minister come clean about the job the Paymaster-General has? Whom, really, is he watching?
Mr Harold Wilson
, Huyton
If the hon. Member would study what I said on a previous occasion he would find that there is nothing odd about it at all. The Chancellor of the exchequer is responsible for the Central Office of Information. If the hon. Member sees any difficulty in this arrangement, it all arises from the fact that we have decided not to have a Minister acting as a party P.R.O.
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 chancellor of the exchequer is the government's chief financial minister and as such is responsible for raising government revenue through taxation or borrowing and for controlling overall government spending.
The chancellor's plans for the economy are delivered to the House of Commons every year in the Budget speech.
The chancellor is the most senior figure at the Treasury, even though the prime minister holds an additional title of 'First Lord of the Treasury'. He normally resides at Number 11 Downing Street.
