Part of the debate – in the House of Lords at 2:59 pm on 28 June 2005.
Lord Williams of Elvel
Labour
2:59,
28 June 2005
My Lords, it is customary to express gratitude to the Minister for an Answer, but my gratitude is limited in this case. This issue has been around for three years: the mid-Wales magistrates' courts are threatened with either closure or rebuilding until some sort of natural arrangement is made. As I understand it, a decision was to be made last year—then it was to be made this year, now it is later on. Could my noble friend the Minister kindly ask her noble and learned friend the Lord Chancellor to whisper in the ear of the Chancellor of the exchequer to get a move on with this, because people in mid-Wales are worried?
The chancellor of the exchequer is the government's chief financial minister and as such is responsible for raising government revenue through taxation or borrowing and for controlling overall government spending.
The chancellor's plans for the economy are delivered to the House of Commons every year in the Budget speech.
The chancellor is the most senior figure at the Treasury, even though the prime minister holds an additional title of 'First Lord of the Treasury'. He normally resides at Number 11 Downing Street.
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.
