Part of Health and Social Care Bill – in a Public Bill Committee at 2:45 pm on 24 January 2008.
Ben Bradshaw
Minister of State (Regional Affairs) (South West), The Minister of State, Department of Health
2:45,
24 January 2008
At present there is no one person with legal responsibility for determining cross-border disputes on ordinary residence between English and Welsh local authorities. Clause 136(2) remedies that defect and allows for a proper mechanism to be put in place for resolving such disputes. The Amendment would remove entirely the Welsh Minister’s power to resolve disputes, thus creating a situation in which the Secretary of State for Health would be solely responsible for making ordinary residence determinations between English authorities, Welsh authorities and English-Welsh authorities. I hope that the hon. Lady will accept that that is not a workable option.
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.
As a bill passes through Parliament, MPs and peers may suggest amendments - or changes - which they believe will improve the quality of the legislation.
Many hundreds of amendments are proposed by members to major bills as they pass through committee stage, report stage and third reading in both Houses of Parliament.
In the end only a handful of amendments will be incorporated into any bill.
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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.
