– in the House of Commons at on 9 April 1941.
Mr. David Adams:
asked the Under Secretary of State for the Colonies whether it is the intention of His Majesty's Government to submit the suggestions which have been made for changes in the Constitution of Jamaica to the consideration of the House of Commons before these changes are put into operation?
Mr George Hall
, Merthyr Tydfil Aberdare
I would refer my hon. Friend to a reply which I gave to the hon. Member for Ipswich (Mr. Stokes) on 4th February, to the effect that if the constitutional changes are agreed upon locally, the Government will consider the question of the matter being considered by this House.
Mr. Adams:
I take it that the Minister agrees with the proposals regarding the changes, which are of far-reaching importance to the Colonial Empire generally, and that therefore this House must have an opportunity of expressing its opinion?
Mr. Adams:
asked the Under Secretary of State for the Colonies whether a scheme has been prepared under the Colonial Welfare and Development Act, 1940, for the purpose of taking a census in Jamaica; and, if so, when it is proposed that a census should be taken and what is its estimated cost?
Mr George Hall
, Merthyr Tydfil Aberdare
No, Sir. A reply is awaited to the despatch on the subject of the Constitution which was addressed to the Governor of Jamaica on 7th March, a copy of which was placed in the library of the House on 12th March.
Mr George Hall
, Merthyr Tydfil Aberdare
We are waiting to hear from the Government as to whether the proposals are accepted in Jamaica.
The House of Commons is one of the houses of parliament. Here, elected MPs (elected by the "commons", i.e. the people) debate. In modern times, nearly all power resides in this house. In the commons are 650 MPs, as well as a speaker and three deputy speakers.
Secretary of State was originally the title given to the two officials who conducted the Royal Correspondence under Elizabeth I. Now it is the title held by some of the more important Government Ministers, for example the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.
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.
This phrase is often used in written answers to indicate that a minister has deposited some relevant information in the House of Commons Library. Typical content includes research reports, letters, and tables of data not published elsewhere.
A list of such depositions can be found at http://deposits.parliament.uk/ along with some of the documents. The Library is not open to the public, but copies of documents can be requested if they are not on that website. For more information, see the House of Commons factsheet: http://www.parliament.uk/documents/upload/P15.pdf
