The Select Committee on Nationalized Industries
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9299.1962.tb01107.x |
| Published date | 01 March 1962 |
| Author | Sir Toby Low |
| Date | 01 March 1962 |
The
Select Committee on Nationalized Industries
THE
RT.HON.SIR
TOBY
LOW,K.C.M.G.,C.B.E.,D.S.O.,Y.P.
This
paper,
by the
fom
Chairman
of
the
Select Commitke
on
Nationalized
Industries,
now
the Rt
Hon
Lord
Aldingfon,
was
given before
the
Royal Institute
of
Public Administration in
London
on
20th
November.
I
96
I,
in the
Autumn
Lecture
series ‘Recent Administrative Develofiment.’
‘The Select committee on Nationalised Industries
is
a committee
of
13
members
of
the House of Commons drawn from all parties in approxi-
mate proportion to their numbers in the House, its present composition
being
7
Conservatives,
5
Labour and
I
Liberal. The task
of
the Committee
is
to examine the Reports and Accounts of the nationalized industries.
To
understand how the Committee has worked it
is
necessary
to
have
some knowledge
of
its historical background.
H
I
ST
0
R
I
C
A
L
BACK
G
R
0
U N
D
The Select Committee, described in
The
Times
recently as ‘one
of
the
most
important
ad hoc
functional bodies serving the Commons’, has not always
been
so
honourably blessed. It owes its origin to the desire, widely felt
amongst Members
of
Parliament, to secure some form of closer relationship
between Parliament and the industries nationalized between
I
945
and
1950. This is,
I
think, what is meant by the phrase ‘greater Parliamentary
accountability’. Members wanted to find
a
method by which they could
best inform themselves about the activities
of
the nationalized industries
without acquiring responsibilities which properly belong to Ministers
or
encroaching on the independence of these commercial enterprises.
Ministerial Responribilio
In the postwar nationalization Acts, the powers and duties
of
Ministers
were carefully limited and spelt out. For these powers and duties the
Ministers would be responsible to Parliament and Parliament would have
such control as it wanted in the ordinary way by questioning Ministers
and debating with the threat
of
withholding supply. These ministerial
powers and duties, though they did not extend to day-to-day operations,
were more extensive than those given in the 1920’s and
1930’s
to Ministers
over public corporations created then
-
such
as
the B.B.C., the London
Passenger Transport Board and
the
Central Electricity Board. Chief
I
PUBLIC
ADMINISTRAlION
amongst the powers given to Ministers by the post-war nationalization Acts
were the appointment of members
of
the Boards; the power to give general
directions on matters affecting the national interest; and important
controls over the finances of the Boards. Of these powers, the influence of
that of the appointment of Chairmen and members
of
the Boards has
probably been underestimated and that
of
the general direction has
probably been overestimated. The power and the duty in regard to finance
seems to have been under-used until recently
-
as will appear later on.
Over the rest of the activities of these nationalized undertakings, the
Acts
provided for no ministerial responsibility, but in practice Ministers
have extended their influence and interest over much of this sphere aIso.
Parliamentary Accountability
Each Board has to make an annual report to Parliament covering its
activities and disclosing its accounts. But, as one of the chief architects
of
these Acts later wrote, ‘the precise character
of
the accountability
of
these
Boards [had] to
be
worked out in the light of experience’.*
By
1951,
however, there had been insufficient experience and certainly no progress
towards
a
solution in that regard. The House of Commons concerned itself
with the nationalized industries through Parliamentary Questions and
debates. In fact, it was not until 1956 that the House established a Select
Committee on Nationalized Industries with terms of reference that would
enable it to make an effective inquiry into each industry.
Earlier Select Committees
The first Select Committee on Nationalized Industries was appointed on
4th December, 1951, ‘to consider the present method by which the House
of Commons is informed
of
the affairs of the nationalized industries and
to report what changes, having regard
to
the provisions laid down by
Parliament in the relevant statutes, may be desirable in these methods’.
The Chairman was Mr. Ralph Assheton, now Lord Clitheroe.
The Committee’s first report? dealt with the rules about Parliamentary
Questions. In their second? they proposed that a House of Commons
Committee be set up to examine the nationalized industries. ‘The object
of the Committee should be that
of
informing Parliament about the aims,
activities and problems of the Corporations and not
of
controlling their
work.’ They also recommended that the Committee’s staff should include
an officer of the status of the Comptroller and Auditor General who should
be an officer of the House of Commons with high administrative experience,
and at least one professional accountant and such other staff as might be
required.
(‘954)
P.
25’.
*Mr.
Herbert Morrison (now
Lord
Morrison
of Lanibeth) in his
Government andParliament
tH.C.
332,(xg51:z)
and
235
(1952-3)
surveyed
in
the
Spring
and Autumn
1953
issues
of
Public
.4dnitnzstratron.
2
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