‘Hiving‐Off’
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9299.1974.tb00169.x |
| Author | G. CHOWDHARAY‐BEST |
| Date | 01 March 1974 |
| Published date | 01 March 1974 |
Notes
and
Correspondence
‘
Hiving-Off’
Sir,
Sir Charles Cunningham’s article on ‘hiving
off’
is interesting, but he
nowhere defines what he means by this expressive tcrm.
If,
as a layman
and not a practical beekeeper,
I
may venture to give an opinion,
I
would
like to suggest that the phrase derives from bee terminology, and occurs
‘when the population’ (of an existing hive) has ‘become
so
congested that
it is desirable to send off a swarm’.
(Engclopaedia
Britannica,
I
I
th ed.
article
BEE.)
If this interpretation be correct then ‘hived-off’, cannot,
with respect, be applied as a term
to
the British Broadcasting Corporation,
for broadcasting was not, previous to that organization’s formation, a
government responsibility, nor can
it
be applied to most, if not all, of
the nationalized industries. Sir Charles Cunningham gives, howevcr,
a clue as to the correct interpretation in my opinion when he states
(1).
253)
‘I
have mentioned these constraints
. . .
because they show very clearly
that a Minister cannot, by hiving-off, disinterest himself in work for
which he would otherwise be directly accountable’.
‘To
apply the term
to
a nationalized industry, which has become in effect more accmntable
to Government than it was before nationalization, seems to be a contradic-
tion in terms
-
a measure
of
‘hiving-in’ has rather
I
suggest, taken place,
and ‘hiving
off’
seems inappropriate, unless one is thinking of it in terms
of
the private sector
as
a
whole, which
I
do not think was Sir Charles Cun-
ningham’s intention.
By
contrast, to apply the term ‘hiving
off’
to the
process by which the Post Ofice was converted from a government depart-
ment into a public corporation seems to he a correct use of the term.
Yours faithfully,
G
.
C
H
0
W
D
H
A
RAY
-
B
E
ST
The
Hon. Editor,
Public
Administration
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