Part of the debate – in the House of Lords at 3:06 pm on 28 June 2005.
Baroness Sharp of Guildford
Spokesperson in the Lords, Education & Skills
3:06,
28 June 2005
My Lords, does the Minister agree that the introduction of the literacy and numeracy hours had an immediate one-off effect in raising standards in primary schools, but that—according to the 11 year-old SAT tests—that effect has plateaued in the past few years? Performance has not continued to increase. Is there any reason why we should continue to see it increase in that way?
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.
