Oral Answers to Questions — Civil Aviation – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 19 March 1947.
Major Donald Bruce
, Portsmouth North
12:00,
19 March 1947
asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Civil Aviation whether he is now in a position to make a statement on the application of the Civil Aviation Act to the Channel Islands.
Mr George Lindgren
, Wellingborough
As I stated in my reply on 12th March to the hon Member for Cheltenham (Mr. Lipson), my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Home Department and my noble Friend have had under consideration resolutions of the States of Jersey and of Guernsey regarding application of the Civil Aviation Act, 1946, to the Channel Islands. In the course of the past year there have been numerous consultations between the Island authorities and the Home Office and the Ministry of Civil Aviation and last week delegations were received from the States of Jersey and of Guernsey, when the representations of the Island States were fully discussed. As a result an Order-in-Council was made on 17th March applying the Civil Aviation Act, 1946, with certain modifications, to the Channel Islands. The main modifications are that the Minister's power of compulsory acquisition of land is not extended to the Islands and that the Insular Authorities are empowered to licence operators to run scheduled air services between the Islands, in addition to the Statutory Corporations.
Mr Daniel Lipson
, Cheltenham
Can my hon. Friend say if the agreement now arrived at which he has announced is one which has met with the approval of the authorities in the Islands?
Mr George Lindgren
, Wellingborough
I am happy to assure the hon. Member that that is so.
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.
