Part of Oral Answers to Questions — Fiji – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 16 June 1964.
Mrs Barbara Castle
, Blackburn
12:00,
16 June 1964
Has not the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development revealed once again the extent to which these problems overlap and heightened the confusion about Ministerial responsibility in this field? Is it not absurd that the President of the Board of Trade should be making important proposals on development at Geneva when it is other Ministers who are responsible to this House for the British end of those policies? Should we not make much more effective use of our development aid if we rationalised its administration under one Minister?
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.
