Part of Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Bill – in a Public Bill Committee at 4:45 pm on 25 January 2005.
Nigel Evans
Conservative, Ribble Valley
4:45,
25 January 2005
I am extremely grateful to the Minister, and fully appreciate what he has just said. That is the only sensible way of dealing with such matters. Since devolution, there has been a problem in that people do not know where the authority lies. For example, the authority to lift the ban on beef on the bone was held by the Welsh Assembly in Wales and by Ministers here: it was done at virtually the same time, which was a common-sense approach to the problem.
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.
