Oral Answers to Questions — Northern Ireland – in the House of Commons at 11:30 am on 4 November 2009.
Angela Watkinson
Opposition Whip (Commons)
11:30,
4 November 2009
What progress has been made on reorganisation of local government in Northern Ireland; and if he will make a statement.
Paul Goggins
Minister of State, Northern Ireland Office
The reorganisation programme is the responsibility of the Minister of Environment in Northern Ireland, who recently made a statement to the Assembly that plans to reduce the number of district councils from 26 to 11 are on track and that the new structures will be in place by May 2011.
Angela Watkinson
Opposition Whip (Commons)
I thank the Minister for that answer. As he will know, the new local councils are not yet in place, and I am grateful to him for confirming that the date of the local elections in Northern Ireland is May next year.
Paul Goggins
Minister of State, Northern Ireland Office
The hon. Lady will know that we delayed the elections that would have taken place this year to 2011. That is an absolutely final date so far as my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State and I are concerned, and I am pleased that the Minister of Environment has committed to put the necessary legislation in place so that that can happen.
Nigel Dodds
Shadow Spokesperson (Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform), Without portfolio, Shadow Spokesperson (Justice), Shadow DUP Spokesperson (Without Portfolio)
On an issue that is the Minister's responsibility, can he tell us whether he will bring forward legislation to allow councillors in the current set-up to retire without the need for costly unwanted by-elections as we come to the fag end of the current councils leading up to 2011?
Paul Goggins
Minister of State, Northern Ireland Office
The hon. Gentleman makes an important point; we do not want a succession of by-elections between April next year and May 2011. I recently published a consultation document on a number of options to make sure that we deal with the issue and do not have all those by-elections to which he referred.
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.
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.
