Oral Answers to Questions — British Army – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 22 June 1954.
Mr Willie Hamilton
, Fife West
12:00,
22 June 1954
asked the Secretary of State for War how many wives of officers serving in Trieste have returned there at their own expense in the last six months; and what is the comparable figure for wives of other ranks.
Mr Anthony Head
, Carshalton
Forty-four and 46.
Mr Willie Hamilton
, Fife West
Can the Minister express those figures as fractions or proportions of the total number of officers and men respectively serving in Trieste?
Mr Anthony Head
, Carshalton
Not without notice.
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.
