Oral Answers to Questions — Public Building and Works – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 9 November 1964.
Mr James Scott-Hopkins
, North Cornwall
12:00,
9 November 1964
asked the Minister of Public Building and Works if he will state the amount in square feet of new office accommodation for Government Departments in the Greater London area under construction or for which contracts have been let.
Miss Lee:
Excluding Post Office buildings, there are about 550,000 sq. ft. of Government office buildings under construction, or for which contracts have been let, in the Greater London Council area. In addition, there are about 600,000 sq. ft. being leased in private developments.
Mr James Scott-Hopkins
, North Cornwall
In the light of the statement last week by the Secretary of State for Economic Affairs, what is the policy of the hon. Lady's Ministry concerning Government offices in future?
Miss Lee:
That is a matter for my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the exchequer.
Miss Lee:
If the hon. Gentleman has a serious question, I would be obliged if he would put it on the Order Paper.
Mr James Scott-Hopkins
, North Cornwall
The hon. Lady's Ministry has the responsibility for the future building of Government offices. She cannot shrug this off on to the Chancellor of the exchequer.
Miss Lee:
I make it clear that the Chancellor of the exchequer has responsibility for general policy in regard to office building. The responsibility of my Department is to carry out the allocations.
Mr John Boyd-Carpenter
, Kingston upon Thames
asked the Minister of Public Building and Works what action he is taking to curtail the building and reconstruction of Government offices in the Greater London Council area.
Mr Charles Pannell
, Leeds West
The policy announced by my right hon. Friend the First Secretary last week is being applied to Government Office buildings, and for the present my Department are not starting any further schemes in the Greater London Council area. I am reviewing the programme to see whether any schemes should be considered for exceptional treatment.
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.
Secretary of State was originally the title given to the two officials who conducted the Royal Correspondence under Elizabeth I. Now it is the title held by some of the more important Government Ministers, for example the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.
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.
The political party system in the English-speaking world evolved in the 17th century, during the fight over the ascension of James the Second to the Throne. James was a Catholic and a Stuart. Those who argued for Parliamentary supremacy were called Whigs, after a Scottish word whiggamore, meaning "horse-driver," applied to Protestant rebels. It was meant as an insult.
They were opposed by Tories, from the Irish word toraidhe (literally, "pursuer," but commonly applied to highwaymen and cow thieves). It was used — obviously derisively — to refer to those who supported the Crown.
By the mid 1700s, the words Tory and Whig were commonly used to describe two political groupings. Tories supported the Church of England, the Crown, and the country gentry, while Whigs supported the rights of religious dissent and the rising industrial bourgeoisie. In the 19th century, Whigs became Liberals; Tories became Conservatives.
The order paper is issued daily and lists the business which will be dealt with during that day's sitting of the House of Commons.
It provides MPs with details of what will be happening in the House throughout the day.
It also gives details of when and where the standing committees and select committees of the Commons will be meeting.
Written questions tabled to ministers by MPs on the previous day are listed at the back of the order paper.
The order paper forms one section of the daily vote bundle and is issued by the Vote Office
