Part of Oral Answers to Questions — Environment – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 6 July 1983.
Mr Peter Hardy
, Wentworth
12:00,
6 July 1983
Will the Minister confirm that the share of local expenditure met by central funds is lower than it has been in living memory? Will he further confirm that there is growing suspicion about the inequitability of the distribution of central support and that it is strongly suspected in the metropolitan areas that southern areas and the shire counties have done extremely well? Does he agree that this suggests that, if the Government are really concerned with the whole of England and Wales, they should reconsider the matter carefully?
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.
