HC Deb 19 May 1942 vol 380 cc36-40
The Minister of Production (Mr. Lyttelton)

The Report of the Citrine Committee on Regional Boards is published to-day, and copies are available in the Vote Office. It is accompanied by a memorandum indicating the Government's views upon the Committee's recommendations and the action which it is proposed to take upon them. As Members have not had an opportunity of studying either the Report or the Government's memorandum on the subject of the Report, I do not think that it would be opportune to go through either document in detail, but I should like to say at once that the Government endorse the Committee's opinion that an efficient Regional Organisation is an essential element in the effective prosecution of the war, and that it accepts in all its main provisions the scheme set out by the Committee for achieving this object. It is a matter of satisfaction to notice how closely the views which are expressed in the Citrine Report tally with those of the Select Committee on National Expenditure in its Eighth Report, and that the necessity for the development of the Regional Organisation, which I myself feel to be of paramount importance, is so clearly supported by the views of these two authoritive Committees. I think, however, it may help the Members if I comment upon one or two points.

One of the Committee's main recommendations is that there should be appointed in each Region a full-time representative of the Minister of Production, who should act as Chairman of the Regional Board. The Government accept this recommendation. It has been decided, however, to change the title of my representative from "Regional Director of Production "into" Regional Controller, Ministry of Production." This title is more appropriate and is consistent with the constitutional position, and I wish to explain to the House, in the clearest possible terms, where my representative stands in this respect. His position must, of course, be related to and governed by the constitutional position which regulates my own relations with the Ministers in charge of the Supply Ministries. In the terms of the Prime Minister's statement, I have to concert and supervise the work of those Ministries. The Minister of Supply, the Minister of Aircraft Production and, as far as he is affected, the First Lord of the Admiralty, remain responsible to Parliament and the War Cabinet for the conduct of their respective Departments. It follows, therefore, that the members of their staffs in the Regions must retain their right to refer to their Ministers and in cases of serious disagreement to retain the right of appeal. It will be the duty of my Regional Controller, in his capacity of Chairman of the Regional Board, to coordinate the activities of the regional representatives of the Supply Ministries and others concerned in production in the region. I shall take the greatest care over the appointment of the Regional Controller because I regard the post as one of the most important in the field of National Production.

So much for the constitutional position. I must say here that I regard it as the duty of the Controllers in the district to work together, and I shall exert every influence to see that this is so. I am reinforced in this resolution by my colleagues, who will enjoin their Controllers to work in this way, to the end that reference to Headquarters may be the exception rather than the rule. The scheme provides that the Regional Boards are to be entrusted with the task of forming District Offices and establishing District Committees where they appear to be necessary, and of delimiting the frontiers within which the District Offices will exercise their functions. I regard the district organisation and the close contacts which can be built up in this way with local industry as an important element in the scheme. The main duty of the District Offices will be to build up and maintain a body of up-to-date information about the current load upon productive capacity in the districts, so as to enable the distribution of new work to be effectively planned, both as regards main contracts and sub-contracts, and to ensure maximum efficiency in the use of labour, plant and floor-space. These duties are, in effect, developments of the Capacity Clearing Centres which have already been successfully established in a number of places.

There is another important development which the Committee has recommended, namely, that the District Offices should in suitable cases promote the formation of groups of firms in order to achieve balanced production. In this way it should, I believe, be possible to enable efficient smaller firms to make an effective contribution to production. In the course of carrying out these wider responsibilities it will be, in accordance with the Committee's recommendations, the duty of the Regional Organisation to draw up a "danger list" of firms to which, in their opinion, no further orders should be given because they are overloaded or likely to become overloaded or are otherwise unsuitable, for example owing to technical inefficiency. In appropriate cases action will be taken from the centre to prevent further orders being accepted by such firms until the position has been remedied. The Committee's proposals provide that where a regional board raises any objections to the placing of a main contract in its region its objections shall be considered at the centre before any action is taken to place the contract except in cases of extreme urgency. The Government are accepting these recommendations and will also expect the Board to make recommendations to headquarters for the better distribution of load, for example, by concentrating the manufacture of certain types of articles in a few plants instead of a large number if production will thereby be increased.

In conclusion, on behalf of the Government I should like to thank Sir Walter Citrine and the Committee for the constructive manner in which they have performed their task and to express my belief that their proposals, as accepted by the Government, will put new life into the Regional Organisation and provide a new stimulus to increased production.

Mr. Arthur Greenwood

I am sure that the House has listened with great interest and pleasure to the statement of the right hon. Gentleman and will read the Report in the White Paper with interest. May I ask the right hon. Gentleman and the Leader of the House to bear in mind the probability that the House might want, at a fairly early date, a discussion on the White Paper, it may be in the wider setting of war production as a whole?

Mr. Shinwell

Can we have an assurance, as regards the powers vested in the Regional Controller in the various Regional organisations, that he will not be obstructed in his activities by Departmental representatives, particularly the Admiralty representatives, and that in the event of any appeals against his recommendations or decisions there will be no unnecessary delay in dealing with these appeals?

Mr. Lyttelton

I think the last point raised by the hon. Member is an important one, and I will take all steps I can to decrease the delay. With regard to the obstruction, I trust I shall be instructed where I am wrong and not obstructed where I am right.

Mr. Woodburn

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that the efficacy of the new Regional boards and the efficiency by which they will discharge their duties will be largely affected by the degree of authority they are given and the speed by which their decisions or recommendations are carried out, and if Departments continually turn down the recommendations of these Regional boards the respect for them in the districts will decrease accordingly, and the scheme will not have the benefit hoped for?

Mr. Lyttelton

I dealt with that in my statement.

Mr. Davidson

With regard to the statement that great care is to be taken in the placing of contracts but that Departments would have the right in exceptional cases of urgency, will the right hon. Gentleman keep in mind that that is exactly what many Departments have said in the past when they have wished to push through a contract to one particular organisation?

Sir H. Williams

Many of us are delighted to hear the statement which has been made, but I am greatly disturbed to realise that two years have elapsed since this, in substance, was recommended in more than one report of the Select Committee, and there have frequently been demands in the House that there should be a Debate on the work of the Select Committee. It is, to me, frankly deplorable that something to which I put my signature over two years ago has been held in abeyance until now.