Part of Oral Answers to Questions — Environment – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 27 February 1991.
Mr Archy Kirkwood
, Roxburgh and Berwickshire
12:00,
27 February 1991
Notwithstanding the increase in housing association and Housing Corporation cash that the Minister has just announced, does he accept that funding does not begin to match the demand and need identified by the Housing Corporation and the housing associations for long-term provision of housing? Will he think again about the possibility of increasing that budget?
Provided that the standards of provision are adequate, will the Minister consider making it easier to give financial incentives to those who have spare rooms to make them available and so bring people off the streets as a transitional stage towards the provision of longer-term accommodation?
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.
