Part of Oral Answers to Questions — Scotland – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 21 November 1973.
Mr David Lambie
, Central Ayrshire
12:00,
21 November 1973
Is the Minister aware that the report recommended that priorities must be given to the development of complexes, including oil refining, on the Hunterston peninsula? Is he further aware that on 19th November the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry stated in a Written Answer to me:
It is the Government's policy to encourage home refinery capacity."—[OFFICIAL REPORT, 19th November 1973; Vol. 864, c. 302.]
When will the Secretary of State carry out Government policy and announce a decision on the many applications which are before him for permission to develop steel and oil refining complexes at Hunterston? If he cannot answer that question today, will he say when the Cabinet will be reshuffled, so that we shall get someone else to represent Scotland who can make a decision on these matters?
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 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.
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.
