Part of Oral Answers to Questions — Work and Pensions – in the House of Commons at 2:30 pm on 18 October 2010.
Karen Buck
Shadow Minister (Work and Pensions)
2:30,
18 October 2010
The Council of Mortgage Lenders indicated that financial support from the Government for home owners who got into trouble was one of the key reasons why fewer repossessions occurred in recent years than in other recessions. Given the impact of the reduced levels of support for mortgage interest relief and the cuts in housing benefit, can the Minister tell me whether he thinks that the number of people requiring financial support because they are homeless will be higher or lower than now at the end of next year?
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.
