Part of Access to Personal Files Bill – in the House of Commons at 1:15 pm on 24 April 1987.
Mr Archy Kirkwood
, Roxburgh and Berwickshire
1:15,
24 April 1987
I shall ask the Minister another question, if he could deal with it at the same time. Some progress could reasonably have been expected by now.
While I am still on my feet, the other matter with which I am sure the Minister will be able to help me is this. I completely forgot to explain to the House that we had decided to take education completely out of the Bill for the simple reason that that provision already exists for England and Wales in section 27 of the Education Act 1980, and for Scotland in section 2 of the Education (Scotland) (No. 2) Act 1980. Some letters have been addressed to me expressing doubt about whether education has been dropped from the Bill. Therefore, for the avoidance of any doubt, it would be helpful if the Minister could confirm that the undertaking that he has given will make use of the provisions of section 27 of the 1980 English legislation and of section 2 of the 1980 Scottish legislation. It would be to the advantage of the House if the Minister could clarify those two points.
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.
