Part of Oral Answers to Questions — International Development – in the House of Commons am 11:30 am ar 13 Mai 2009.
Ivan Lewis
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for International Development
11:30,
13 Mai 2009
My hon. Friend is absolutely right to draw attention to the important contribution that the Elders are making to securing progress in Zimbabwe. We recently announced £15 million to strengthen health system support, improve sanitation and further strengthen food security, but we make it very clear that, on the pace of reform, there are certain non-negotiables. We make that clear in our conversations with the new Prime Minister and the Finance Minister, whom my right hon. Friends the International Development Secretary and the Foreign Secretary met recently. The United Kingdom provides humanitarian and Humanitarian Plus support, but we still await further improvement in terms of the necessary reforms.
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.
