Part of Oral Answers to Questions — Environment – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 6 July 1983.
Gerald Kaufman
, Manchester, Gorton
12:00,
6 July 1983
The hon. Member for Milton Keynes (Mr. Benyon) has drawn attention to the fact that his county is penalised to the extent of £7–75 million by the supplementary rate support grant report that the right hon. Gentleman published yesterday. As the Secretary of State said earlier today that he wants local government to become more local wherever possible, how will he convince Mr. Ian McCallum, who described the proposals in the white paper as yet another big step towards more central control?
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.
A document issued by the Government laying out its policy, or proposed policy, on a topic of current concern.Although a white paper may occasion consultation as to the details of new legislation, it does signify a clear intention on the part of a government to pass new law. This is a contrast with green papers, which are issued less frequently, are more open-ended and may merely propose a strategy to be implemented in the details of other legislation.
More from wikipedia here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_paper
