Oral Answers to Questions — National Finance – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 30 June 1964.
Mr Emrys Hughes
, South Ayrshire
12:00,
30 June 1964
asked the Chancellor of the exchequer how many chartered accountants are employed in his Department.
Mr Emrys Hughes
, South Ayrshire
Is the fact that only one chartered accountant is employed by the Government the reason why I cannot find out the cost of the military operations in the Aden Peninsula? Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that I put this question to the Minister of Defence, whose arithmetic is evidently not his strong point, and I got no reply? Surely there is one chartered accountant who can help the Government to work out the cost of what is happening around Aden?
Mr John Boyd-Carpenter
, Kingston upon Thames
I am glad that my mathematics have been more successful than those of my right hon. Friend's Department. If we wanted more such officers we would recruit them. I hope that the hon. Gentleman will not press us to inflate establishments unnecessarily.
Sir Godfrey Nicholson
, Farnham
Is it not possible that greater cross-fertilisation between administration and industry is desirable? My right hon. Friend may say that Government accounting is different from commercial accounting, but surely there is room for the one to learn from the other?
Mr John Boyd-Carpenter
, Kingston upon Thames
In general, I wholly agree with my hon. Friend, and he may recall that I made a statement in the House a week or two ago which, I think, marked a significant advance in this respect.
The chancellor of the exchequer is the government's chief financial minister and as such is responsible for raising government revenue through taxation or borrowing and for controlling overall government spending.
The chancellor's plans for the economy are delivered to the House of Commons every year in the Budget speech.
The chancellor is the most senior figure at the Treasury, even though the prime minister holds an additional title of 'First Lord of the Treasury'. He normally resides at Number 11 Downing Street.
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.
