Part of Oral Answers to Questions — Justice – in the House of Commons at 2:30 pm on 10 November 2009.
Eleanor Laing
Shadow Minister (Justice)
2:30,
10 November 2009
Perhaps the Minister is not aware of a statutory instrument that is coming before the House this afternoon. I understand that the Government are proposing a change in this area of the law to bring in what would effectively be a stealth tax on innocence. Does she appreciate that after the Government's proposals become law, someone who has been accused of a crime, has met their own costs in defending themselves, and is then declared innocent will be required to pay their own costs? If she is now going to confirm that the information that I have about this is mistaken, we would be delighted.
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.
