Oral Answers to Questions — Employment – in the House of Commons am 12:00 am ar 7 Rhagfyr 1964.
Mr Derek Page
, King's Lynn
12:00,
7 Rhagfyr 1964
asked the Minister of Labour if, in view of the importance of regional planning and the need for full information on which to base it, he will take steps to publish average weekly earnings of male manual workers in the north-east of England Development Area for a suitable date in 1964.
Mr Ernest Thornton
, Farnworth
Figures for the northeast of England Development Area are not available. This area, however, accounts for some 90 per cent. of the insured population of northern region for which figures of earnings of adult male manual workers are regularly published in the Ministry of Labour Gazette and the quarterly publication "Statistics on Incomes, Prices, Employment and Production".
Mr Derek Page
, King's Lynn
Is my hon. Friend aware that it is extremely difficult to make comparisons between areas such as the North-East, which are receiving economic aid, and areas such as Norfolk, which may well deserve such aid, because comparative figures are not available? Is he prepared to take steps to secure such figures?
Mr Ernest Thornton
, Farnworth
We will certainly keep the matter under review. This is a rather complicated subject, but we will give it our attention.
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.
