Administrative Developments in 1967: A Survey
| Date | 01 September 1968 |
| Author | B. C. SMITH,J. STANYER |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9299.1968.tb01367.x |
| Published date | 01 September 1968 |
Administrative Developments in
1967:
A
Survey
B.C.SMITH
AND J.STANYER*
MrSmith and MrStanyer are Lecturers
in
the Dqartment
of
Government,
University
of
Exeter.
Part
One: Central Government
A.
THE CABINET AND DEPARTMENTAL
ADMINISTRATION
During 1967
a
number of
Cabinet
changes took place. These involved the
usual shifting of personnel, but in addition resulted in some significant
developments in the distribution of functions amongst Ministers.
The principal ministerial reorganization
was
on 6 January 1967.
Thirteen ministerial appointments and fifteen junior posts were affected.
Two Ministers left the Cabinet, six more left the Government,
two
junior
Ministers also departed, and Mr.Gordon Walker was brought in again as
Minister without Portfolio.
The size
of
the Cabinet was reduced from twenty-three to twenty-one
members. This reorganization was partly the result
of
a
need, implicit in
Government policies, for
a
redistribution of duties at the Foreign Office,
the Department of Economic Affairs and the Ministry of Defence.
Two new Ministers
of
State were appointed at the
Foreign
O@ce
and one
of them, Mr.Frederick Mulley, was made responsible for matters con-
cerning Britain’s relations with Europe, and for the negotiations for
entry into the European Economic Community in preparation for the
approaches to Europe made by Mr.Wilson and Mr.Brown later in the
year. Mr.Mulley was also given responsibility for
a
number of economic
matters related to foreign policy.
The newly-appointed Chancellor of the Duchy
of
Lancaster took over
wages questions and prices and incomes policy at the
Debartment
ofEconomic
Affairs,
thus relieving the Secretary of State for Economic Affairs
of
the
burden of negotiations relating to prices and incomes and allowing him
to concentrate on general questions of economic planning, productivity
and the work
of
the Economic Development Committees. Two new Joint
Under-Secretaries werc also appointed to
D.
E.A.,
one with special responsi-
*Part
I
of
this
survcy
has
bren
prcpared
by MrSmith
and
Part
I1
by Mr.Stanyer. The
section
in
this survey on parlianientary scrutiny
of
administration has
brrn
contributrd by
the
Hon.
Editor.
“9
P
U
El
L
I
C
AD
M
I
N
I
ST
R
AT
I0
N
Lility for regional and environmental studies relating to economic planning
and the other for the work of the new Industrial Reorganization Corpora-
tion and the National Economic Development Council. Later
in
the year,
in August, the Prime Minister took over personal responsibility for the
general oversight and co-ordination of economic planning and the chair-
manship of N.E.D.C. D.E.A.’s responsibility for certain overseas economic
policies and for relations with industry in preparation for possible British
entry into the E.E.C. were transferred at this time to the
Board
of
Trade,
and the External Policies Group in the Department, responsible for
economic relations with E.F.T.A. and E.E.C. countries and other aspect4
of external economic policy, was wound up.
The third set of New Year changes was in the
Ministry
of
Defence.
Hcrr
the centralization and integration of the defence organization bcgun
in
April
1964
with the merging in the Ministry of the three separate service
departments was taken
a
stage further.’ The posts of Ministers of Defencc
for the Royal Navy, the Army and the Royal Air Force were abolished
and
two
new Ministers were appointed in their place. A Minister
of
Defence for Administration was placed in charge of the administration
of the three services and a Minister
of
Defence for Equipment was given
responsibility for the task indicated by his title. The three services were
henceforth to be represented in the Government only by three Under-
Secretaries of State.
Changes in the internal organization of the Ministry of Defence followed
the political reorganization. Chief Advisers, one for Personnel and Logistics,
the other for Projects, were appointed to the Ministers of Defence,
Administration and Equipment, respectively.
A
third Adviser, for Studies,
was appointed to the Secretary of State to carry out %uch studies in the
field of general defence policy
as
the Secretary of State may decide’. The
posts of Deputy Chief of Defence Staff (Personnel and Logistics), created
under the
1964
defence reorganization, and Chief Scientific Adviser
(a
post held by Sir Solly Zuckerman) were abolished.
These modest, and in the opinion of some, cautious, changes can be
scen to follow from the intentions expressed in the
1965
White Paper on
Defence (Cmnd.
2592).
Soon after the reorganization of
1964
the move-
ment towards greater inter-service co-ordination and
a
more unified
control
of
management and policy was encouraged by giving the three
senior h4inisters
of
Defence special spheres
of
responsibility cutting acrosr,
scrvice lines, as well as single service duties. Thus the Minister of State
for the Army was given responsibility for international policies relating
to
defence, while the Ministers for the Navy and Air Force were answerable
for personnel and logistics policies and the co-ordination of research and
development for all three services. The Minister for the
R.A.F.
also
took
on
responsibilities for the defence budget
as
a
whole. This division of
‘See
F.M.G.Willson,
‘The
Organization
of
British
Central
Government, January
1962-
October
I
964’,
Public
Administration,
41,
Spring
1966.
240
ADMfNISTRATIVE
DEVELOPMENTS
IN
1967
functions, foreshadowed in the
1965
Statement
on
th
Dfenre
Estiiiiates,
was
seen as an interim measure and as part of
a
general trend towards greater
inter-service co-operation and unified control in management and policy-
making, especially in such fields
as
common supply and logistics pro-
cedures and personnel administration. Another objective was to lighten
the administrative burden falling on the Secretary of State and to ensure
political responsibility for and supervision of the main administrative
functions of the Ministry on an inter-service basis. The
1967
changes thus
constitute replacing the defence organization based on inter-service co-
ordination and co-operation by an integrated organization geared to the
principal functional areas in defence planning and operations.
The New Year changes reflect a number
of
political strategies, including
‘bringing forward’ some promising back-benchers to give them ministerial
experience. The addition of Ministers to some departments, such a$ the
Foreign Office and D.E.A., was intended to give the Government closer
control of departmental activities, particularly in committees, and to
widen the scope for political intervention in departmental work. Finally,
the changes in the organization and emphasis at
D.E.A.
were
a
further
attempt
to
clarify the role of this Department in the machinery
for
economic
planning, although D.E.A.’s primary role was still asserted as being to
take responsibility
for
the medium and long-term aspects of economic
policy and for their co-ordination.
The
Ministry
of
Teclinology
also produced problems relating to
a
ckar
definition of its role and place in the machinery of government. Starting in
I
964
with the job of stimulating and guiding technological developments
in industry it was becoming, by
1966,
a
‘Ministry of Engineering’ becausc
of its sponsorship of the engineering and shipbuilding industries.
A
further stage in
its
development
was
reached in
1967
with the incorporation
in Technology
of
the Government’s aircraft and procurements functions
which were seen as related to the Ministry’s responsibility for technology
generally, for research, and for strengthening the electronics industry.
February
1967
thus saw the disappearance of the
Ministry
of
Aviation
and the transference of its research, developmental and procurement
functions
to
the Ministry of Technology. A number
of
difficult issues
affecting the distribution of departmental responsibilities had to be resolved
prior to this decision, not least of which
was
where to locate the procure-
ment functions of the Ministry
of
Aviation in the defence field. The first
problem
was
whether ministerial responsibilities for the aircraft industry
as
a
whole should be associated with responsibility
for
the management of
the customers
of
that industry,
the
airlines
;
or
whether the aircraft industry,
which is
a
large and significant part of the engineering industry and
closely concerned with developments in electronics research, should be
‘handled‘ in the political context by the Minister with responsibility
for
the
rest
of the engineering industry. Secondly, there was the important
issue
of
the
advantages to
be
gained from making the Board of Trade,
2.i
I
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