Part of Oral Answers to Questions — Environment – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 5 December 1973.
Mr Willie Hamilton
, Fife West
12:00,
5 December 1973
Does the Minister recollect that in that statement he made no specific reference to the situation in Scotland? Can he now take the opportunity of spelling out exactly the investment programme improvements for Scotland? In particular, will he give assurances that there will be increased electrification in the central belt and on the main line to Inverness and Aberdeen, in view of the very great increase in freight traffic which is likely to result from the acceleration of the North Sea oil programme?
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.
