Oral Answers to Questions — Northern Ireland – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 13 June 1991.
Martin Smyth
, Belfast South
12:00,
13 June 1991
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many applications have been received for general practitioner fund-holding practices.
Mr Jeremy Hanley
, Richmond and Barnes
None, Sir. Applications have not yet been invited, but we are intending to do so by the end of this year.
Martin Smyth
, Belfast South
Will the Minister kindly tell us the reason for the delay as the management plan said that applications should be in by 1 July? Is that a reflection of the fact that many GPs in Northern Ireland oppose fund-holding status?
Mr Jeremy Hanley
, Richmond and Barnes
Fund-holding status has been well received within Great Britain and the Government remain fully committed to its implementation in Northern Ireland. As the hon. Gentleman rightly said, fund-holding will commence a year later than originally planned. The reason for the postponement is to allow the Department and the boards more time to undertake the detailed work involved in the implementation of fund-holding. To be frank, I believe that we can benefit from the opportunity to learn from the experience in Great Britain.
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.
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.
