Part of Oral Answers to Questions — British Army – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 10 June 1964.
Mr Joseph Harper
, Pontefract
12:00,
10 June 1964
While thanking the Minister for that reply, may I ask him how long is "for the time being"? It is more than 14 months since these barracks were vacated. Does not the Minister think that it is time that they were utilised for other purposes? For example, with slight modification—as the services are there—they could be used as a teacher-training college, or for the proposed scheme of the West Riding County Council as a college for sixth formers. In view of the shortage of playing fields in the Pontefract area, will the Minister give an undertaking that this playing field will not fall into the hands of the greedy speculative builder?
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.
