Part of Oral Answers to Questions — Pensions and National Insurance – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 26 March 1956.
Mr Thomas Steele
, Dunbartonshire West
12:00,
26 March 1956
asked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance how far the pension and allowances provided under the provisions of the National Insurance and Family Allowance Acts for a widow with four children aged 4, 6, 9 and 12 years, fall below what such a widow would receive under the scale rates of the National Assistance Board.
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.
