Part of the debate – in the House of Lords at 2:45 pm on 15 September 2003.
Baroness Greengross
Crossbench
2:45,
15 September 2003
My Lords, is the Minister aware that despite the priority given by the Government to physical activity in schools, due to the current funding problems many schools are cutting swimming lessons for primary school children, for example, which I believe are very important, and that that is on top of losing teaching 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.
