Part of the debate – in the House of Lords at 3:06 pm on 28 June 2005.
Lord Quirk
Crossbench
3:06,
28 June 2005
My Lords, does the Minister think that phonics teaching should be more consistently observed in schools? Would he also venture a word about adult literacy, not least in Her Majesty's prisons?
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.
