Part of Oral Answers to Questions — Employment – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 7 December 1964.
Mr Joseph Godber
, Grantham
12:00,
7 December 1964
While welcoming the emphasis which the Minister has placed on the importance of the work of the Central Training Council, which I fully endorse, may I ask whether it is not some-what unusual to publish formal details about an inter-departmental committee and particularly its terms of reference? The right hon. Gentleman and I know very well that there are many interdepartmental committees at all levels of Government which meet all the time, and they are not usually given this formality. Does not this announcement give special importance to this committee? Can the right hon. Gentleman inform us that the Central Training Council will continue to be, as intended, the main forum for the discussion of these problems?
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.
