Oral Answers to Questions — Ministry of Works – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 31 October 1949.
Mr Alfred Bossom
, Maidstone
12:00,
31 October 1949
asked the Minister of Works to what extent consideration has been given to the construction of an underground garage in the new layout proposed for Parliament Square, like the one in St. Francis Square, San Francisco, or on similar lines.
Mr Charles Key
, Poplar Bow and Bromley
The construction of an underground garage under Parliament Square would involve very heavy expenditure, and Parliament Square would be less suitable for this purpose than most London squares, owing among other things to the fact that the Underground Railway crosses the Square diagonally just below the surface.
Mr Alfred Bossom
, Maidstone
Does the Minister realise that the question of an underground railway could be handled and has been handled in other places, and will he see that nothing is done to prevent something of this sort from being undertaken at a later date, because there is a great desire and need for garage space in this part of London?
Mr Charles Key
, Poplar Bow and Bromley
I will bear it in mind; but I do not know that there is greater need here than in many other places in London.
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.
