Part of the debate – in the House of Commons at 4:35 pm on 23 March 1993.
Miss Betty Boothroyd
Speaker of the House of Commons
4:35,
23 March 1993
Order. I have dealt with it very thoroughly. I have dealt with the written Question which should be available to Members immediately. I have dealt with the matter of deprecating statements made outside, and I have made the point that whether a Minister comes to the Dispatch Box or answers a written Question is entirely a matter for that Minister. There can be no further point of order.
If you've ever seen inside the Commons, you'll notice a large table in the middle - upon this table is a box, known as the dispatch box. When members of the Cabinet or Shadow Cabinet address the house, they speak from the dispatch box. There is a dispatch box for the government and for the opposition. Ministers and Shadow Ministers speak to the house from these boxes.
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.
