Part of Justice (Northern Ireland) Bill – in a Public Bill Committee at 7:15 pm on 5 February 2002.
Crispin Blunt
Shadow Spokesperson (Northern Ireland)
7:15,
5 February 2002
I am grateful for that clarification. I am left with just a hint of opaqueness in my understanding of precisely which areas will be devolved and which will be reserved. I appreciate that the Minister cannot give a comprehensive answer now, but I invite him to write to member of the Committee well before Report, so that there is time to table amendments if the position is unclear and hon. Members want to change responsibilities between the First Minister and Deputy First Minister and the Secretary of State. The Bill needs to be clear about which areas automatically relate to devolution of justice and which do not, and at the moment it is not.
Secretary of State was originally the title given to the two officials who conducted the Royal Correspondence under Elizabeth I. Now it is the title held by some of the more important Government Ministers, for example the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.
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.
