Business, Innovation and Skills written statement – made at on 13 December 2010.
Mark Prisk
The Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills
I, together with the Minister of State with responsibility for decentralisation, my right hon. Friend Greg Clark, would like to inform the House that today we have written to the proposed black country, new Anglia (covering Norfolk and Suffolk), and Worcestershire local enterprise partnerships inviting them to put their governance arrangements in place.
Local enterprise partnerships see a real power shift away from central government and quangos and towards local communities and the local businesses who really understand the barriers to growth in their areas. This announcement brings the total number of partnerships so far invited to put their governance arrangements in place to 27. We will continue to work with other areas with a view to establishing further local enterprise partnerships across England.
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.
