Oral Answers to Questions — Transport – in the House of Commons at 10:30 am on 28 October 2010.
Jessica Morden
Labour, Newport East
10:30,
28 October 2010
What recent representations he has received on the method of payment of tolls on the Severn Bridges; and if he will make a statement.
Theresa Villiers
The Minister of State, Department for Transport
The Department for Transport has recently received representations from the Wales Office about the method of payment on the Severn Bridges. The Secretary of State has met the Deputy First Minister, and payment methods at the Severn Crossings were discussed.
Jessica Morden
Labour, Newport East
The facility enabling people to pay with credit and debit cards-for which I was grateful-was introduced in time for the Ryder cup, only to be whisked away again the minute the event was over. That has caused confusion. My constituents would like to pay by modern methods, which is fair enough. Can the Minister assure me that an end to the situation is in sight?
Theresa Villiers
The Minister of State, Department for Transport
I can. I know that a long-running campaign has been conducted by a number of Members.
As the hon. Lady says, the system was introduced for the Ryder cup. We considered it important to meet the deadline, given the significance of the event. The temporary scheme has been withdrawn for the moment, but is due to be back in operation on Friday next week. That gives us a chance to do some more work in order to make it more efficient, but there will be further work to make it more efficient still. We hope to introduce a system in the new year that will not require PINs. The temporary system does require them, and that causes delays and adds to congestion.
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.
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.