Part of Civil Contingencies Bill – in a Public Bill Committee at 2:45 pm on 29 January 2004.
Patrick Mercer
Conservative, Newark
2:45,
29 January 2004
The Minister mentioned the Osiris exercise, which I was lucky enough to be able to observe. My understanding is that it was more than two years after 11 September before a practical exercise of any sort took place to see what the reaction of the Government and, indeed, London would be to such an incident. That is in addition to the criticisms that I have already made. Does he seriously believe that one single exercise of that type is sufficient to suggest that London's business community is prepared for such an event?
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.
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.
