Part of the debate – in the House of Lords at 3:13 pm on 28 June 2005.
Lord Forsyth of Drumlean
Conservative
3:13,
28 June 2005
My Lords, when will the Government produce honest borrowing figures? The Minister chose to make a comparison with the previous Conservative government. When will we see the end of the Enron-style accounting, where huge sums of borrowing are presented off balance sheet? I am thinking, for example, of the PFI borrowings and of the borrowings which have been made to British Rail, as it was. These sums do no appear. Therefore, if the Minister wishes to make an honest comparison with the previous government, will he produce the figures which people want in order to know the extent to which they have put this generation in hock as a result of borrowings which are off balance sheet?
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.
