Topical Questions

Part of Home Department – in the House of Commons at on 29 July 2024.

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Photo of Yvette Cooper Yvette Cooper The Secretary of State for the Home Department

The policing Minister and I would be very happy to talk to my hon. Friend about the importance of rebuilding neighbourhood policing in his Constituency and across the country. Fundamentally, this is about making communities feel safe, and about restoring the confidence of local communities in policing and community safety in their area.

Minister

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.

constituency

In a general election, each Constituency chooses an MP to represent them. MPs have a responsibility to represnt the views of the Constituency in the House of Commons. There are 650 Constituencies, and thus 650 MPs. A citizen of a Constituency is known as a Constituent