State Pension Credit Bill [Lords] – in a Public Bill Committee at on 25 April 2002.
'The Secretary of State shall as soon as practicable after the end of the fiscal year 2004–05 and as soon as practicable after the end of each year thereafter lay before Parliament a report setting out—
(a) the extent of fraud in state pension credit claims; and
(b) the measures he has taken to deal with fraudulent claims for state pension credit.'.—[Mr. Clappison.]
Brought up, and read the First time.
Question proposed [this day], That the clause be read a Second time.
Question again proposed.
James Clappison
Shadow Spokesperson (Treasury)
2:30,
25 April 2002
I was about to bring my remarks to a close before we adjourned for lunch. I was talking about individual learning accounts, about which my hon. Friend the Member for Daventry (Mr. Boswell) memorably asked the Deputy prime minister at Prime Minister's questions. The lesson that we must learn from the problems that arose with ILAs is that there is no room for complacency. If we do not scrutinise such provisions with the right degree of rigour, a great deal of fraud may suddenly come to light. That is what happened with ILAs, which had to be precipitately withdrawn.
Having highlighted the dangers that we face, I should say that I am grateful to the Minister for his remarks. As in other areas, we shall hold the Government to account as regards fraud. On that basis, I beg to ask leave to withdraw the motion.
Motion and Clause, by leave, withdrawn.
A parliamentary bill is divided into sections called clauses.
Printed in the margin next to each clause is a brief explanatory `side-note' giving details of what the effect of the clause will be.
During the committee stage of a bill, MPs examine these clauses in detail and may introduce new clauses of their own or table amendments to the existing clauses.
When a bill becomes an Act of Parliament, clauses become known as sections.
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.
The office of Deputy Prime Minister is one that has only existed occasionally in the history of the United Kingdom. Unlike analogous offices in other nations, the Deputy Prime Minister does not have any of the powers of the Prime Minister in the latter's absence and there is no presumption that the Deputy Prime Minister will succeed the Prime Minister.
The post has existed intermittently and there have been a number of disputed occasions as to whether or not the title has actually been conferred.
More from wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deputy_Prime_Minister_of_the_United_Kingdom
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.
