Oral Answers to Questions — Ministry of Supply. – in the House of Commons at on 24 January 1940.
Mr William Leonard
, Glasgow St Rollox
asked the Minister of Supply whether he has now considered the details supplied to him by the hon. Member for St. Rollox, supporting the charge that timber merchants are circumventing the Timber Control (No. 1) Order by refusing to supply buyers in lots more than £I5 in value and by this practice gaining the right to increase the control price by 20 per cent.; and what steps he proposes to take to stop this imposition?
Mr John Llewellin
, Uxbridge
I am obliged to the hon. Member for submitting particulars of alleged evasions of the Control of Timber (No. 1) Order. Inquiries into these cases are now in progress and the possibility of taking proceedings in certain other cases is under active consideration.
Mr William Leonard
, Glasgow St Rollox
If it can be shown that any firms have been subject to this practice, and that in carrying out contracts from the Government they have required timber which they could not obtain in more than £15 lots, will steps be taken to make restitution to these firms, which are forced to pay an extra 20 per cent.?
Mr John Llewellin
, Uxbridge
That is another question.
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.
