Oral Answers to Questions — Transport – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 12 February 1964.
Mr Charles Mapp
, Oldham East
12:00,
12 February 1964
asked the Minister of Transport what reply he has given to the communication of 25th November from the Chief Constable of Oldham dealing with dipped headlights in built-up areas.
Mr Ernest Marples
, Wallasey
The Chief Constable was invited to make comparative tests between his experimental system and another sent to him from the Road Research Laboratory. I am grateful for the information he has recently provided about the results.
Mr Charles Mapp
, Oldham East
Is the Minister aware that I and, I am sure, the Chief Constable will be pleased at his constructive approach? Is he aware, as I think he is, that we must find the happy compromise between inadequate sidelights and glaring dipped headlights, particularly in towns? It may be that the work done experimentally will find the ultimate solution and I urge the Minister to proceed on those lines.
Mr Ernest Marples
, Wallasey
I am grateful to the hon. Member. I agree with him that we must find the answer, particularly for wet conditions at night, because that is when dazzle arises. What the answer will be, I do not know, but we are studying the results of the dipped headlight campaign and carrying out certain experiments all over the country and ultimately, I hope, we shall find a satisfactory answer. I agree, however, upon the importance of the problem.
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.
