§ Mr. Mike Thomasasked the Prime Minister whether he will list the responsibilities of the Paymaster-General; and 233W when she will answer Questions in the House in that capacity.
§ The Prime MinisterI appointed my right hon. Friend to be Secretary of State for Prices and Consumer Protection and Paymaster General, and, as is usually the case with all non-departmental Ministers, she will carry out the special duties that are assigned to her from time to time as Paymaster-General. It is a long-established practice not to specify these special duties in detail.
The traditional duties of the Paymaster-General, which, under successive Administrations, have been delegated to the Assistant Paymaster-General, are to make certain payments on behalf of Government Departments. The Paymaster-General also holds a number of trusteeships and other offices on an ex-officio basis.
Provision could be made in the Question Time rota if it were the general wish of the House that the Paymaster-General should answer questions.