Le mouvement des Idées et des Faits: The Public Corporation and Nationalisation in Britain
| DOI | 10.1177/002085235201800205 |
| Published date | 31 January 1952 |
| Author | D. G. Brunt,Raymond Nottage |
| Date | 31 January 1952 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
Le
mouvement
des
Idees
et
des
Faits
The
Public Corporation and Nationalisation in Britain, p. 354. -
Le
Sbninaire
administratif
international des
Nations
'Unies a
Rio
de Janeiro,
p. 373. -
La
codification des
textes,
p. 380. -
Vas
un
renf
orcemeni du
contriile des organismes porastataux en Belgique, p. 384. -
Le
Controle
municipal
sur
les constructions urbaines au Portugal, p, 412.
The
Public Corporation
and Nationalisation in Britain
by Rayniond
SOTTAGE
and D. C.
BRCST
Institute
of
Public
Administration
(London)
INTRODUCTION
The
public
corporation
resulted
from
endeavour
to find a
solution
to
the
problem
of
how
to
combine
the
best
points
of
private
enterprise
and
efficient commercial
management
with
the
stricter
degree
of public control
and
accountability
required
in
the
case
of
large-scale
public services of a monopolistic
character.
The
process
of
experiment
began
in 1902
and
by
1939
this
form of
organisation
had
been
applied
to a
number
of public
services.
With
a
few
exceptions
these
earlier
corporations
were
not
on a
national
scale.
After
the
war
the
experience
of
the
earlier
Corporations
was
drawn
upon
in
preparing
plans
for
the
national
corporations
which
were
to be
the
chosen
instruments
for
the
control
and
operation
of
the
public services
and
basic
industries
transferred
to public control
under
Acts
of
Parliament
passed
in
the
years
1946-1949.
355
I. -
THE
NATURE AND
GROWTH
OF
PUBLIC CORPORATIONS
1902 - 1939
The
earliest public
corporations
in
Britain
were
established to
bring
under
public
management
enterprises
or activities,
usually
of a monopolistic
character,
which
Parliament
had
decided
should
no
longer
be
left
in
private
hands.
Each
Board
represented
a
compromise
between
ordinary
commercial
practice
and
mana-
gement
by a
Government
Department
or Local
Authority.
Efforts
were
made
to
harmonise
public responsibility in
the
use of economic resources
and
for
the
provision of public services
with
the
pursuit
of
lonq-ranqe
commercial
and
industrial
objec-
tives.
Various
expedients
which
had
already
been
tried,
such
as municipal
management
or control by a
joint
stock
company
with
the
State
or a Local
Authority
as
the
sole or
predominant
shareholder,
were
rejected
as unsuitable. A
new
method
was
finally
adopted
by
which
each
concern
was
managed
by
apublic
board
of
Directors
established
by
statute
or
charter
and
granted
the
fullest possible freedom of action
within
the
limits of
general
Parliamentary
control.
The
administrative
machinery
was
experimental.
It
was
planned
in
each
case
to
carry
out
aspecific
task,
and
the
size
and
compo-
sition of
the
Boards
varied, as
did
the
manner
of
their
appoint-
ment,
according
to
the
nature
and
extent
of
their
responsibilities
and
duties.
The
two
most usual
variations
were
the
«mixed
interest»
agency,
composed
largely
of
members
representing
the
interest
served,
with
asmall
admixture
of
members
attending
on
behalf
of
central
and
local authorities,
and
in some cases of
members
appointed
by
a
central
department
to
represent
the
interests
of
labour;
and
what
may
be called
the
«classic »
type
of corporation,
managed
by
a
corporate
board
of ability
with
no
direct
interest
in
the
undertaking.
The
«mixed
interest
»
Corporations
included
port
and
har-
bour
authorities,
notably
the
Port
of
London
AuthOrity,
and
were
usually
preferred
where,
as in ports,
the
consumers
were
organised
in compact
groups
with
localised
and,
in
the
main,
common interests.
On
the
other
hand,
services
used
by all sections
of
the
population in all
parts
of
the
country,
such
as those
pro-
vided
by
the
British
Broadcasting
Corporation,
were
as a
rule
managed
by
the
non-representative
or «classic »
type
of
Board.
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