Part of Oral Answers to Questions — Health – in the House of Commons at 11:30 am on 27 November 2012.
Andrew George
Liberal Democrat, St Ives
11:30,
27 November 2012
I am very pleased that the Minister will be meeting a cross-party delegation of MPs from the south-west next week to discuss this issue. In view of his answer to Kerry McCarthy, is he confirming that Health Ministers have no powers at all to intervene in the negotiations between employers and their staff?
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.
