Part of Orders of the Day — Crime and Punishment (Scotland) Bill – in the House of Commons at 8:30 pm on 20 January 1997.
Jim Wallace
, Orkney and Shetland
8:30,
20 January 1997
What consideration have the Minister and his colleagues given to the opinion of the recently retired Lord Justice-Clerk Ross, in the case of Strawhorn and McLeod, about inducements to plead guilty at an early stage?
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.
