HC Deb 21 November 1963 vol 684 cc1172-4
Q2. Mr. Donnelly

asked the Prime Minister what are the Departmental responsibilities of the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster.

Q6. Mr. Stonehouse

asked the Prime Minister what duties he has assigned to the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster.

Q1. Mr. Hale

asked the Prime Minister what are the official responsibilities of the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster; and who will be responsible for answering questions in the House of Commons on matters for which he is responsible.

The Prime Minister (Sir Alec Douglas-Home)

It has not been customary to detail the functions discharged by senior Ministers who have no Departmental duties. The Duchy is not a Government Department and has no Vote. It has nevertheless been the practice to accept Questions put down to the Chancellor about those aspects of the Duchy administration which parallel the work of Government Departments. Such Questions will be answered by my right hon. and learned Friend the Attorney-General.

Mr. Donnelly

While thanking the Prime 'Minister for that illuminating reply, may I ask him whether it means that he has no objection to the next Government appointing the Chief Executive of Transport House to the Government payroll?

The Prime Minister

It depends what the next Government is. When the hon. Member says that the reply was illuminating, I would point out that it was almost exactly identical with that made by Lord Attlee in similar circumstances.

Mr. Stonehouse

Is the Prime Minister aware that, although he may be uncertain, there is no doubt on this side of the House that we shall win the next election? Does he not understand that there is a great feeling outside the House that it is rather disgraceful that the Chairman of the Conservative Party should not only be given a peerage on a plate but should also be given a job of this character, and that many people regard this as bordering on the corrupt?

The Prime Minister

Peerages on a plate are rather a sensitive subject for me. I do not think that the hon. Member need worry at all. My right hon. Friend takes a full part in all Government business and a full part in the other place.

Mr. Wilson

Is the Prime Ministeraware that, while we may have two different views about who will win the next election, we regard it as wrong to appoint a practically full-time party chairman to the Government payroll? The right hon. Gentleman has two Ministers on the Government pay-roll who are doing Conservative Party work—the Minister Without Portfolio, who does Conservative Party propaganda, and the Chairman of the Conservative Party, in another place. Does he not feel that it is quite unwarrantable to put these charges on the taxpayer?

The Prime Minister

What the right hon. Gentleman may feel in certain circumstances is an academic question. I have taken these steps, and I am perfectlysatisfied that my right hon. Friend takes a full part in the work of the Government and in another place. That is my answer.

Mr. Wilson

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that it is simply a difference of standards between his side of the House and ours?