Oral Answers to Questions — Royal Air Force – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 3 December 1947.
Mr Aidan Crawley
, Buckingham
12:00,
3 December 1947
asked the Secretary of State for Air whether it is proposed to make changes in the role of any of the Auxiliary Air Force Squadrons.
Mr Geoffrey De Freitas
, Nottingham Central
Yes, Sir. The four bomber squadrons are to be converted to fighters. All 20 Auxiliary Air Force squadrons will now form part of the air defences of this country.
Mr Aidan Crawley
, Buckingham
Is the Minister aware that this is a return to the traditional role of the Auxiliary Air Force—the role which they fulfilled at the beginning of the war—and will he give wide publicity to the matter with a view to encouraging recruitment?
Mr Geoffrey De Freitas
, Nottingham Central
I hope it will receive publicity.
Sir Arthur Harvey
, Macclesfield
Will the hon. Gentleman try to make the facilities more attractive, in which case he will get more recruits?
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.
