Oral Answers to Questions — Ministry of Supply. – in the House of Commons at on 31 January 1940.
Mr Ian Hannah
, Wolverhampton Bilston
asked the Minister of Supply whether, before buying scrap-iron at high prices in New York, he is satisfied that it is impossible to find further supplies in this country?
Mr John Llewellin
, Uxbridge
The efforts to increase the home supplies of iron and steel scrap are yielding satisfactory results, but in view of our high rate of steel production it is still necessary to supplement these supplies by importations from abroad.
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.
