Part of Oral Answers to Questions — Education – in the House of Commons at 2:30 pm on 19 January 2015.
Bridget Phillipson
Opposition Whip (Commons)
2:30,
19 January 2015
The charity 4Children recently published figures showing that one in five parents with child care costs this year will either have to reduce their hours or are considering giving up work altogether because of child care costs. This is certainly the case when I speak to parents in Sunderland. Will the Minister go further and extend free child care for three and four-year-olds so that parents can stay in work and contribute to the economy?
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.
