Oral Answers to Questions — Agriculture, Fisheries and Food – in the House of Commons am 12:00 am ar 13 Rhagfyr 1973.
Mr John Farr
, Harborough
12:00,
13 Rhagfyr 1973
asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what new research is being promoted to contain damage to growing farm and horticultural produce by avian predators.
Mr James Stodart
, Edinburgh West
Research on bird pests is continuing on the broad lines described in the last Triennial Report of our Pest Infestation Control Laboratory. I am sending my hon. Friend a copy.
Mr John Farr
, Harborough
I thank my hon. Friend for his consideration. Will he call the attention of our right hon. Friend the Home Secretary to the fact that the best method of controlling avian predators is with shotguns and, with that in mind, will he review some of the considerations in his green paper?
Mr James Stodart
, Edinburgh West
I am on record in this House as saying that I am very fond of birds. I certainly take note of what my hon. Friend said, but I never regard birds as avian predators.
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.
A Green Paper is a tentative report of British government proposals without any commitment to action. Green papers may result in the production of a white paper.
From wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_paper
