Oral Answers to Questions — Civil Defence. – in the House of Commons at on 14 December 1939.
Mr James Thomas
, Hereford
asked the Minister of Health whether he is now able to assist the five other Government Departments concerned with billeting in the city of Hereford and its neighbourhood by agreeing to the ruling of the Home Office that Hereford is a vulnerable area; and whether he will, therefore, take steps to have all children who have been evacuated to Hereford for safety re-evacuated to an area which has been scheduled as safe?
Mr Walter Elliot
, Glasgow Kelvingrove
The primary object of the Government evacuation scheme is to secure dispersal, and it has been necessary to utilise as receiving areas some districts, including Hereford, which are specified areas for the purpose of the Civil Defence Act, 1939, on the view that they offer a better chance of safety than do the areas from which children have been evacuated. Close contact is being maintained with the other Government Departments concerned, and the question of transferring evacuated children now accommodated in Hereford will be considered in connection with billeting requirements for other Government purposes.
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.
