Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs written question – answered at on 6 November 2006.
Keith Simpson
Shadow Minister (Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs)
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether the ministerial responsibilities of her right hon. Friend the Member for Ashfield (Mr. Hoon) have changed since the publication of the List of Ministerial Responsibilities in June 2006; and whether he speaks for the Government on European matters in the House.
Margaret Beckett
Foreign Secretary
The responsibilities of my right hon. Friend Mr. Hoon, the Minister for Europe, remain unchanged from those set out in the List of Ministerial Responsibilities in June 2006. Both he and I speak for the Government on European matters in the House as appropriate.
Yes4 people think so
No2 people think not
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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.
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.
