Part of the debate – in the House of Lords at 1:30 pm on 16 September 2004.
Baroness Maddock
Shadow Minister, Office of the Deputy Prime Minister Local Government & the Regions
1:30,
16 September 2004
Before the Minister sits down, the noble Lord, Lord Best, and I both asked about further consultation with the bodies that have been involved. The noble Lord explained what consultation had been carried out thus far. However, in relation to one or two of the technicalities concerning how the scheme works, it seems clear to me that it would still be worth continuing with those consultations between now and the next stage.
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.
