– in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 4 December 1947.
Mr Joseph Binns
, Rochester Gillingham
12:00,
4 December 1947
asked the Minister of Health if he will publish a white paper showing the detailed effect on individual local authorities of the rating proposals for Electricity and Transport Undertakings in Section 94 of the Local Government Bill.
Mr Aneurin Bevan
, Ebbw Vale
I regret that the detailed information asked for is not available to me, and could not be made available without an undue amount of labour.
Mr Anthony Greenwood
, Heywood and Radcliffe
Is my right hon. Friend aware that most local authori- ties would be able to help him in this matter, and that authorities like Radcliffe lose 13 per cent. of their rateable value, and an urban district council in Lancashire as much as 60 per cent.?
Mr Aneurin Bevan
, Ebbw Vale
Individual authorities will make their positions known, but I could not give all the information asked for. It would involve getting returns from more than 8,000 authorities.
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
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.
