Oral Answers to Questions — Agriculture – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 18 February 1954.
Mr John Vaughan-Morgan
, Reigate
12:00,
18 February 1954
asked the Minister of Agriculture why, in a case to which his attention has been drawn by the hon. Member for Reigate, his Department gave consent to a local authority for a change of user for a property without giving the owner of the land an opportunity to state his views.
Mr Thomas Dugdale
, Richmond (Yorks)
Since February, 1952, it has been the practice of my Depart-
ment to notify owners and occupiers of proposals by public bodies for the development of agricultural land referred to the Department for comment under the planning arrangements. The case to which my hon. Friend refers was dealt with before the introduction of this arrangement.
Mr John Vaughan-Morgan
, Reigate
Will my right hon. Friend look into the facts again, because that is not the information which has been given to me?
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.
