Oral Answers to Questions — Ministry of Information. – in the House of Commons at on 17 December 1941.
Major Abraham Lyons
, Leicester East
asked the Minister of Information the number of male persons, excluding established civil servants, under 41 years of age employed by his Department in both London and the country who have been exempted from military service because of that employment and not previously of a reserved occupation and age?
Mr Brendan Bracken
, Paddington North
The number is 206.
Major Abraham Lyons
, Leicester East
Will my right hon. Friend cause a review to be made of all those cases where people have entered his Department without any special qualifications and have avoided service of all kinds, and will he realise, in view of the liabilities placed upon other people, that this is creating a real public scandal throughout the country?
Mr Brendan Bracken
, Paddington North
If what my hon. and gallant Friend has said were true, it would be a public scandal, and I will certainly inquire into the allegation he has made.
Major Abraham Lyons
, Leicester East
Will my right hon. Friend call for a return from each Department?
Mr Daniel Lipson
, Cheltenham
Is there any reason why the same test should not apply to these people as to others, namely, the test of the particular jobs they are doing?
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.
