Part of Oral Answers to Questions — Trade and Industry – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 20 March 1991.
Mr John Hughes
, Coventry North East
12:00,
20 March 1991
Does the Minister accept that the Budget was an insult to the 107,000 unemployed men and women in the west midlands? Is he aware that this week production has plummeted once more and that since the spring of 1990 it has fallen in terms of value by £20 billion? That has cost the west midlands 306,000 jobs. Is not it time that the Government, and especially the Chancellor of the exchequer in his Budget, took manufacturing industry seriously?
The chancellor of the exchequer is the government's chief financial minister and as such is responsible for raising government revenue through taxation or borrowing and for controlling overall government spending.
The chancellor's plans for the economy are delivered to the House of Commons every year in the Budget speech.
The chancellor is the most senior figure at the Treasury, even though the prime minister holds an additional title of 'First Lord of the Treasury'. He normally resides at Number 11 Downing Street.
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.
