Oral Answers to Questions — Scotland – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 28 July 1959.
Mr Jon Rankin
, Glasgow Govan
12:00,
28 July 1959
asked the Secretary of State for Scotland when he proposes to implement the procedure laid down in Section 8 of the Private Legislation Procedure (Scotland) Act, 1936, in respect of the Stopping of Highways (Ayrshire) Order, 1959.
Hon. John Maclay
, Renfrewshire West
The procedure on this Order is not governed by Section 8 of the Act of 1936, but by Section 10 of the Statutory Orders (Special Procedure) Act, 1945. As my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation indicated in the House on 17th July, I am deferring action on the Order until I have considered further in consultation with the Minister, the problem of control of road traffic where the runway crosses the trunk road.
Mr Jon Rankin
, Glasgow Govan
Is it not the case that, in connection with the findings of the Parliamentary Commission, the procedure to be followed by the Secretary of State is clearly laid down in Section 8 of the 1936 Act? Also, is the right hon. Gentleman proposing, in association with the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation, to connive at ignoring and abrogating this Scottish law in order to give the Minister of Transport what his own Parliamentary Commission refused to give him?
Hon. John Maclay
, Renfrewshire West
In answer to the first part of the hon. Gentleman's supplementary question, I am advised that the operative Act is the 1945 Act and that the 1936 Act comes in only if a confirmation Bill is to be presented.
Mr Jon Rankin
, Glasgow Govan
Is it not the case that Section 8 of the 1936 Act defines the procedure to be followed where an Order has been opposed?
Hon. John Maclay
, Renfrewshire West
I think that I had better write to the hon. Gentleman about the very technical statutory position. It is a little difficult to deal with it in Question and Answer.
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.