Oral Answers to Questions — Public Building and Works – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 9 November 1964.
Brigadier Terence Clarke
, Portsmouth West
12:00,
9 November 1964
asked the Minister of Public Building and Works why men working in Portsmouth Dockyard inadvertently overpaid 3s. a week by his Department are now required to repay at the rate of 5s. a week.
Mr Charles Pannell
, Leeds West
In many cases the overpayment was much more than 5s. a week. Each employee will be asked to agree to a weekly repayment of 5s. If any employee represents that this will cause him hardship, we are ready to consider a lower weekly amount.
Brigadier Terence Clarke
, Portsmouth West
Does the right hon. Gentleman appreciate that a teacher who was overpaid £1 3s. a month for three years was told that there was no legal way of getting it back? Will he say why employees in the dockyard who have been overpaid a lesser sum are asked to repay when a teacher does not have to repay?
Mr Charles Pannell
, Leeds West
This was a case of genuine mistake within the Ministry made by people acting in good faith, and it was so recognised by my predecessor; but we are always willing to hear any news about hard cases.
Mr John Boyd-Carpenter
, Kingston upon Thames
Is it not unusual in the public service, particularly in the case of workers on a fairly low level of payment, to expect repayments at a higher rate than that at which the payments were made? Will not the right hon. Gentleman have another look at it?
Mr Charles Pannell
, Leeds West
I am largely dealing with something which was almost a closed book by the time I reached the Ministry. I think that the right hon. Gentleman's Intervention is addressed to the wrong person. But there were discussions with the employees' union, which is prepared to leave things on this basis and will raise any individual case of difficulty that may arise, which I shall receive sympathetically.
Mr John Boyd-Carpenter
, Kingston upon Thames
What I asked was that the right hon. Gentleman himself should have a look at this matter, which from my experience is unusual in the public service. Wherever the original responsibility lay, it is the right hon. Gentleman's responsibility to deal with it now, and I hope he will do so.
Mr Charles Pannell
, Leeds West
Of course I will deal with any case that may be put to me. But one would normally assume that the employees' trade union would be more sensitive to these things than hon. Gentlemen opposite.
Brigadier Terence Clarke
, Portsmouth West
asked the Minister of Public Building and Works why he has not yet replied to the letter from the hon. Member for Portsmouth, West, dated 12th October.
Mr Charles Pannell
, Leeds West
I have not received this letter.
Brigadier Terence Clarke
, Portsmouth West
I am still awaiting a reply. Would the Postmaster-General have something to do with this? The Minister has already replied to somebody else but has not replied to an hon. Member. Are we to put my opponent's name on the same list as Gordon Walker, Frank Cousins and other members of the Government who are not in the House?
Mr Charles Pannell
, Leeds West
The question asked was whether I had received a letter from the hon. and gallant Member for Portsmouth, West, dated 12th October, when he himself was not a Member of the House. [HON. MEMBERS: "He was."] No, the hon. and gallant Gentleman was not. None of us was until 15th October.
However, I had better get this clear for the sake of the record. The hon. and gallant Gentleman wrote a letter, dated 9th October, to my predecessor about the recovery of wages overpaid to the Ministry's employees in the Portsmouth area. A reply was sent on 12th October by the Minister's Private Secretary as my predecessor was in his Constituency at the time. At that time the hon. and gallant Member was not a Member of this House. During the election campaign I received a letter on the same subject, dated 13th October, from the Labour candidate at Portsmouth, West. I replied to this letter on 26th October. The hon. and gallant Gentleman wrote to me on 3rd November, in somewhat intemperate terms, to protest that I had replied to the Labour candidate. I have written to the hon. and gallant Gentleman to explain to him that I am well aware of the courtesies due to Members of this House and that I am in the habit of replying to correspondents on matters on which they are entitled to a reply from me.
Brigadier Terence Clarke
, Portsmouth West
May I ask why I have still not had a reply?
Sir Harry Hylton-Foster
, Cities of London and Westminster
Order. This correspondence for the moment would appear to have been adequately prolonged.
Brigadier Terence Clarke
, Portsmouth West
Mr. Speaker, may I raise the matter on the Adjournment in view of the unsatisfactory nature of the reply?
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.
An intervention is when the MP making a speech is interrupted by another MP and asked to 'give way' to allow the other MP to intervene on the speech to ask a question or comment on what has just been said.
A group of workers who have united to promote their common interests.
In a general election, each Constituency chooses an MP to represent them. MPs have a responsibility to represnt the views of the Constituency in the House of Commons. There are 650 Constituencies, and thus 650 MPs. A citizen of a Constituency is known as a Constituent
The Speaker is an MP who has been elected to act as Chairman during debates in the House of Commons. He or she is responsible for ensuring that the rules laid down by the House for the carrying out of its business are observed. It is the Speaker who calls MPs to speak, and maintains order in the House. He or she acts as the House's representative in its relations with outside bodies and the other elements of Parliament such as the Lords and the Monarch. The Speaker is also responsible for protecting the interests of minorities in the House. He or she must ensure that the holders of an opinion, however unpopular, are allowed to put across their view without undue obstruction. It is also the Speaker who reprimands, on behalf of the House, an MP brought to the Bar of the House. In the case of disobedience the Speaker can 'name' an MP which results in their suspension from the House for a period. The Speaker must be impartial in all matters. He or she is elected by MPs in the House of Commons but then ceases to be involved in party politics. All sides in the House rely on the Speaker's disinterest. Even after retirement a former Speaker will not take part in political issues. Taking on the office means losing close contact with old colleagues and keeping apart from all groups and interests, even avoiding using the House of Commons dining rooms or bars. The Speaker continues as a Member of Parliament dealing with constituent's letters and problems. By tradition other candidates from the major parties do not contest the Speaker's seat at a General Election. The Speakership dates back to 1377 when Sir Thomas Hungerford was appointed to the role. The title Speaker comes from the fact that the Speaker was the official spokesman of the House of Commons to the Monarch. In the early years of the office, several Speakers suffered violent deaths when they presented unwelcome news to the King. Further information can be obtained from factsheet M2 on the UK Parliament website.
