Oral Answers to Questions — Armed Forces – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 26 November 1947.
Mr Stephen Swingler
, Stafford
12:00,
26 November 1947
asked the Minister of Defence when he expects to be able to announce target strengths of volunteers for the three Services.
Mr Albert Alexander
, Sheffield, Hillsborough
I would refer my hon. Friend to the reply which I gave to his Question on 12th November.
Mr Stephen Swingler
, Stafford
Is it not about time that some target figures, if only of a temporary nature, were stated, in view of the fact that the Minister must know the rate of call-up and demobilisation during the next year? Would it not assist the recruiting campaign to give target figures up to the middle of next year?
Mr Albert Alexander
, Sheffield, Hillsborough
It would be inadvisable to give really firm figures to the House in advance of the recommendations of the military authorities on the long-term programme.
Sir Edward Keeling
, Twickenham
As the right hon. Gentleman let the expression "target strength" pass, will he say what it means? Is it the same as establishments, or is it something different?
Mr Albert Alexander
, Sheffield, Hillsborough
What I think my hon. Friend had in mind was the actual figure of men to be aimed at as a general standing strength of the Regular Forces in each case.
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.
