Part of Oral Answers to Questions — Unemployment. – in the House of Commons at on 8 July 1925.
Mr. TREVELYAN THOMSON:
35 and 36.asked the Minister of Labour (1) what is the estimated saving which will accrue to the Unemployment Insurance Fund by the alteration proposed by Clause 1 of the Unemployment Insurance Bill;
(2) what will be the amount of the annual saving to the Unemployed Insurance Fund by increasing the waiting period from three days to six days; and whether the Government propose to make any equivalent grant to local authorities to reimburse them for the proportion of this sum which will be thrown upon their local rates?
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.
