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Houses of Parliament Buildings

Orders of the Day — Supply – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 7 March 1947.

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Motion made, and Question proposed, That a Supplementary sum, not exceeding £58,800, be granted to His Majesty, to defray the charge which will come in course of payment during the year ending on the 31st day of March, 1947, for expenditure in respect of Houses of Parliament buildings.

Photo of Captain Harry Crookshank Captain Harry Crookshank , Gainsborough

Can the right hon. Gentleman tell us why the Parliament Square contribution, which we all agree with, should count as "Houses of Parliament Buildings" expenditure? Why is it on this Vote at all?

Photo of Mr Charles Key Mr Charles Key , Poplar Bow and Bromley

I cannot give an explanation of why it should be here, but the matter seems to be in connection with the environment of the Houses of Parliament.

Photo of Viscount Turnour Viscount Turnour , Horsham

As chairman of the Select Committee on the rebuilding of the House of Commons I want to make it clear that at some time or other we shall expect what I would call a progress report on this matter. Possibly the Government might consider issuing a white paper, because we have had no announcement yet as to the date when the building will be finished. I think' that the right hon. Gentleman the Minister of Works will appreciate the reason for my application.

Photo of Mr Charles Key Mr Charles Key , Poplar Bow and Bromley

I will certainly give it my consideration.

Question put, and agreed to.

House of Commons

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.

White Paper

A document issued by the Government laying out its policy, or proposed policy, on a topic of current concern.Although a white paper may occasion consultation as to the details of new legislation, it does signify a clear intention on the part of a government to pass new law. This is a contrast with green papers, which are issued less frequently, are more open-ended and may merely propose a strategy to be implemented in the details of other legislation.

More from wikipedia here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_paper

Minister

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.