Part of Care Bill [Lords] – in a Public Bill Committee am 4:30 pm ar 16 Ionawr 2014.
Norman Lamb
The Minister of State, Department of Health
4:30,
16 Ionawr 2014
It is legitimate to debate this concern, but does my right hon. Friend agree that this is ultimately a low-cost loan? As he and the Shadow Minister have already said, deferred payments have been around for quite some time, albeit not widely available in reality. Is my right hon. Friend aware of any circumstance in which someone who has taken out a deferred payment arrangement—in the whole time since their introduction—has later claimed that it was mis-sold to them? We might expect that assertion to have been made by now were it a genuine and legitimate fear.
A parliamentary bill is divided into sections called clauses.
Printed in the margin next to each clause is a brief explanatory `side-note' giving details of what the effect of the clause will be.
During the committee stage of a bill, MPs examine these clauses in detail and may introduce new clauses of their own or table amendments to the existing clauses.
When a bill becomes an Act of Parliament, clauses become known as sections.
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 shadow cabinet is the name given to the group of senior members from the chief opposition party who would form the cabinet if they were to come to power after a General Election. Each member of the shadow cabinet is allocated responsibility for `shadowing' the work of one of the members of the real cabinet.
The Party Leader assigns specific portfolios according to the ability, seniority and popularity of the shadow cabinet's members.
