Oral Answers to Questions — Royal Navy – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 14 December 1949.
Mr George Ward
, Worcester
12:00,
14 December 1949
asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Admiralty when the provisions of the Prize Act, 1948, will be fully implemented and the funds finally distributed.
Mr John Dugdale
, West Bromwich
As I informed the hon. and gallant Member for Edinburgh, West (Lieut.-Commander Hutchison) on 9th November, the distribution of prize money to serving officers and men is complete. It is hoped to complete payment to ex-Service officers and men by the end of April, 1950. As the House is aware, the Royal Air Force Prize Fund is being distributed to charitable and other organisations for the benefit of present and past members of the Royal Air Force and their dependants. My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Air, informs me that it is hoped to make the major distribution in the near future, but that it is intended to hold a reserve to meet future claims. I understand it is not possible to give a definite date by which the final distribution will have been made.
Mr George Ward
, Worcester
Is it not true that this matter has been on the agenda of the Air Council for the last 18 months and has not yet been reached?
Mr John Dugdale
, West Bromwich
The hon. Member will have to put down a Question about that matter to the Secretary of State for Air.
Sir Allan Noble
, Chelsea
Is the Minister aware that he told me a few months ago that the maximum delay in paying prize money would be in the neighbourhood of five months. Under the terms of the answer he has now given, it may well be that ex-Service personnel will have to wait for nearly a year?
Mr John Dugdale
, West Bromwich
Payments are being made fairly rapidly, but as I have said they are completed so far as the actual serving personnel are concerned.
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.
