Oral Answers to Questions — Civil Defence. – in the House of Commons at on 22 May 1941.
Mr Kenneth Lindsay
, Kilmarnock
asked the Minister of Health what is the responsibility of senior regional officers in rehousing persons from bombed areas?
Mr Ernest Brown
, Leith
The responsibility for the rehousing of homeless persons rests with the local authorities, to whom full powers of billeting and of the requisitioning of houses have been delegated. The duty of my senior regional officer is to advise them in the making of plans and to assist them in operating them when an emergency occurs. If necessary he arranges for the distribution of the homeless over a number of areas.
Mr Kenneth Lindsay
, Kilmarnock
In view of the fact that this machinery is not at present achieving this object, I give notice that I shall raise this question on the Adjournment at the earliest possible date.
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.
