Part of Oral Answers to Questions — Environment – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 12 December 1990.
George Howarth
Shadow Spokesperson (Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
12:00,
12 December 1990
I, too, welcome the Minister to his new responsibilities. Has he had the opportunity today, and if not, will he take it, to read the front and inside pages of the Daily Mirror? The headline is,
Shame on the Tories' Doorstep
and refers precisely to our crisis of homelessness. Is the Minister aware of the growing body of concern among sources as diverse as the Prince of Wales, charities and local authority associations about our homelessness crisis, particularly at this time of year? Does he agree that the one simple, direct step that would eliminate the problem quickly and effectively would be to agree with local authorities that they can enter into private sector leasing agreements? That would take many thousands of people off the streets and resolve some of the problems that have been created by his Government.
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.
