§ 42. Mr. Caryasked the Minister of Production whether he has any further information to give the House about the work of the Joint War Production Staff?
§ The Minister of Production (Mr. Lyttelton)Yes, Sir. The Joint War Production Staff has been organised along the lines I indicated in my speech of 24th March. It sits under my chairmanship or, in my absence, under that of my Chief Adviser of Programmes and Planning, Sir Walter Layton. The Ministers of the Departments concerned attend when the occasion requires, but the permanent members are, for the Service Departments, the Assistant Chief of Naval Staff (Weapons), the Assistant Chief of the Imperial General Staff and the Air Member for Supply and Organisation, and for the Production Departments, the Controller of the Navy, the Chairman of the Supply Council and the Controller-General of the Ministry of Aircraft Production. The Minister of Labour and National Service and the Minister of War Transport are also represented when necessary. A Planning Group has also been set up on which representatives of the Service Departments and the Production Departments work together with members of my own staff. The Planning Group holds regular meetings, but the 232 greater part of its work is done in subcommittees to which representatives of the Departments concerned are summoned. The hon. Member will not expect me to reveal very much of the work of these two bodies. I can, however, say that they have been and are engaged in a review of the whole of the programmes and munitions production in relation to the strategical requirements of the Services, and that a number of changes in allocation of productive resources and in priorities have already been made on their recommendation.