Oral Answers to Questions — Public Building and Works – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 9 November 1964.
Sir Albert Costain
, Folkestone and Hythe
12:00,
9 November 1964
asked the Minister of Public Building and Works, in view of the fact that economies would be made in building costs and building programmes would be further accelerated if the recommendations of the Committee on Building Regulations were accepted, if he will introduce legislation to implement these recommendations.
Mr Charles Pannell
, Leeds West
Proposals for legislation on the lines recommended by the Building Regulations Advisory Committee were circulated to interested bodies for comment in July. I am now examining the comments received and propose to proceed with further discussions with a view to legislation.
Sir Albert Costain
, Folkestone and Hythe
While I thank the right hon. Gentleman for that reply, may I ask whether he does not find some embarrassment in that he is not a Member of the Cabinet, like his predecessor, in order to get priority for this sort of legislation?
Mr Charles Pannell
, Leeds West
No, Sir; I do not find that at all. I can only tell the hon. Gentleman that I have been concerned with the work of this Department for 18 hours a day since I have had the job and could not have spared any time for the Cabinet.
Sir Knox Cunningham
, South Antrim
Can the right hon. Gentleman say how long it will be before he is able to give his decision in this matter?
Mr Charles Pannell
, Leeds West
I am told that the proposed legislation will undoubtedly result in increased economy and efficiency. I shall introduce it as soon as I can, but there are a number of complex technical issues which remain to be resolved.
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.
The cabinet is the group of twenty or so (and no more than 22) senior government ministers who are responsible for running the departments of state and deciding government policy.
It is chaired by the prime minister.
The cabinet is bound by collective responsibility, which means that all its members must abide by and defend the decisions it takes, despite any private doubts that they might have.
Cabinet ministers are appointed by the prime minister and chosen from MPs or peers of the governing party.
However, during periods of national emergency, or when no single party gains a large enough majority to govern alone, coalition governments have been formed with cabinets containing members from more than one political party.
War cabinets have sometimes been formed with a much smaller membership than the full cabinet.
From time to time the prime minister will reorganise the cabinet in order to bring in new members, or to move existing members around. This reorganisation is known as a cabinet re-shuffle.
The cabinet normally meets once a week in the cabinet room at Downing Street.
