Oral Answers to Questions — Local Government – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 14 October 1969.
Mr William Van Straubenzee
, Wokingham
12:00,
14 October 1969
asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government what changes he has made in policy in respect of appeals coming to him against refusals by Berkshire County Council to permit residential development in certain parts of that county.
Mr Arthur Skeffington
, Hayes and Harlington
My right hon. Friend's policy remains to consider each appeal on its merits.
Mr William Van Straubenzee
, Wokingham
Will the Minister therefore kindly explain why, in a recent appeal made to him on a substantial development in my Constituency, in Charvil, the Minister clearly indicated that, with certain technical points, he would welcome the matter being referred back to him, his policy seeming to be to encourage substantial development in an area which is already expanding very fast?
Mr Arthur Skeffington
, Hayes and Harlington
What I said remains quite true. My right hon. Friend must consider each case on its merits. At the same time, he has to ensure that there is sufficient building land to cater for the requirements in the Home Counties.
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.
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
