Oral Answers to Questions — British Army – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 12 August 1947.
Mr Stephen Swingler
, Stafford
12:00,
12 August 1947
asked the Secretary of State for War how many of the 700,000 men and women in the Armed Forces at home are Army personnel; how many of these men and women are regarded as trained personnel; and what is their rôle.
Mr Frederick Bellenger
, Bassetlaw
I would refer my hon. Friend to the statement made by my right hon. Friend the Minister of Defence in the course of the Debate on the Adjournment this morning.
Mr Woodrow Wyatt
, Birmingham Aston
Is it not a fact that this figure is really nearer 800,000, and can the Minister explain why the Government find it necessary to have double the number of men at home at the moment than the total of the Forces of all three Services before the war?
Mr Frederick Bellenger
, Bassetlaw
The answer to the first part of that supplementary question is that I do not think it is nearer 800,000. In answer to the second part of the question, I think my right hon. Friend dealt with that this morning.
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.
