MINISTERS OF THE CROWN (TRANSFER OF FUNCTIONS) (Hansard, 19 March 1946)

§ The Financial Secretary to the Treasury (Mr. Glenvil Hall)
I beg to move, That an humble Address be presented to His Majesty, praying that the Department of Overseas Trade (Dissolution) Order, 1946, be made in the form of a draft laid before Parliament. The hour is late and I will be very brief. The effect of the draft Order for which theapproval of the House is now sought, is to dissolve the Department of Overseas Trade as from 1st April next. If the draft is approved by both Houses and an Order in Council is made, the functions of the Department will be transferred to the Board of Trade, and this particular Department of the Board of Trade will, thereafter, be known as the Export Promotion Department. These changes give effect to the announcement made by the Prime Minister in the House on 17th December last, when he indicated that the Department of Overseas Trade would be integrated with the Board of Trade itself, and would come under the direction of the Secretary for Overseas Trade, now known as the Secretary of the Department of Overseas Trade, who will be definitely responsible to thePresident of the Board of Trade himself. The sole object of this change is to improve the service which the Government can render to the export trade. The decision to make this change has been very carefully considered, and it is felt that it will help exporters, and the export trade of this country generally, in the crucial years that are to come.
The Department in the past has not been concerned with policy, and although the Secretary of the Department has been known by that title, he has in fact held a dual office; he has been, in a sense Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Trade and also Under-Secretary to the 1835 Foreign Office. From now on, he will come directly under the President of the Board of Trade and will be definitely responsible to him. He will, through the reorganised Department, integrate all the various functions which previously were given him as head of the Department of Overseas Trade and also the functions previously carried on by the Commercial Relations and Treaties Department of the Board of Trade itself. I hope, therefore, that without any further explanation on my part, as the hour is late and we have other Orders to take, the House will agree to accept this Motion.

§ The Minister of Supply (Mr. John Wilmot)
I beg to move, That an humble Address be presented to His Majesty, praying that the Ministry of Aircraft Production (Dissolution) Order, 1946, be made in the form of the draft laid before. Parliament. At this late hour I will be very brief. I need say very little on the detail of this draft Order which brings to an end the Ministry of Aircraft Production and transfers the functions of that Minister to the Minister of Supply. It is, of course, part of the general reorganisation of the machinery of Government consequent upon the end of the war.
On the formation of the present Government the two Ministries were put under one Minister, myself, and the Prime Minister informed the House on the 29th October that it was his intention to amalgamate these two Departments. Since then, the staffs have been merged, the physical amalgamation is practically complete; the two Departments are now one and this Order is now presented in accordance with the terms of the Ministers of the Crown (Transfer of Functions) Act which recently received the Royal Assent. So we come to the passing of this great Department which was born in the most critical days of the war and which has 1836 been through desperate times and emerged triumphant. I am sure that its passing, particularly for those who have been in any way connected with it, will be marked with some sorrow, certainly with some nostalgia, for it carries with it many memories. Of distinguished Ministers, brilliant executive officers, and verygreat achievements, Lord Beaverbrook, Lord Brabazon, Lord Llewellin, and my right hon. and learned Friend the present President of the Board of Trade, will always be remembered as Ministers of Aircraft Production, and the brilliant chief executives, from Sir Wilfrid Freeman, who brought it to birth and saw it through its most difficult times, to the present Edwin Plowden who has played a very great part in its development and in the complicated process of amalgamation. This great Ministry bequeaths to its successor an honoured name and a very fine tradition. I have given much thought to the title of the new amalgamated Ministry, and I have come to the conclusion that the simple title, the Ministry of Supply, is the most appropriate and embracing; it has beenaccepted by the great Services which it is our duty to serve. I trust and I believe that the great traditions of the Ministry of Aircraft Production will be honourably preserved and that its triumphant establishment of British supremacy in the air will be continued.

§ The Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of War Transport (Mr. G. Strauss)
I beg to move, That an humble Address be presented to His Majesty, praying that the Ministry of War Transport (Dissolution) Order, 1946, be made in the form of the draft laid before Parliament. This draft Order also carries out the intention of the Ministers of the Crown (Transfer of Functions) Act in that it dissolves the Ministry of War Transport and transfers all its functions to the 1837 Minister of Transport. It must not be considered that the new Ministry of Transport will have powers identical with those possessed by the Ministry of Transport before the war. It has certain additional powers, and particularly the responsibility for the Mercantile Marine, which was, at one time, the responsibility of the Board of Trade, and, during the war, was the responsibility, first, of the Ministry of Shipping, and then of the Ministry of War Transport. These functions will now be added to those possessed prior to the war by the Minister of Transport, but there will be no additional charge on public funds created by this Order. The change of name merely reflects the fact that the Ministry will in future be devotedto purposes of peace, and no longer to those of war.

§ Mr. Maclay (Montrose Burghs)
While anxious to detain the House for as short a time as possible in view of the lateness of the hour, I do feel that what is in fact the death of a great WartimeMinistry, and its reincarnation in its peacetime form, cannot be allowed to pass without some comment. In what I have to say, I am speaking primarily of the shipping side of the Minister's functions, although some of what I have to say applies also to hisother functions. Before the war, as the Parliamentary Secretary has pointed out, the Board of Trade was responsible for watching the interests of the shipping industry in all its aspects. I think that there was general agreement that, so far as the regulatory functions of the Board of Trade were concerned, the job was well done. There is no doubt, however, that there were many people in the country and the shipping industry who felt that the shipping policy side of the Board of Trade was very much a side show, and that an industry of such importance to the country merited a Minister more exclusively concerned with transport problems than the President of the Board of Trade could possibly be.
As the Parliamentary Secretary has described, the shipping functions of the Board of Trade were taken over by the Ministry of Shipping at the outbreak of war, which later merged into the Ministry of War Transport. No one can doubt that this Ministry was fortunate in the quality of its Ministers and of its permanent civil servants, and if I may 1838 add, in those members of the shipping industry who devoted so completely their time to the work of the Ministry during, the war. This Ministry deserved very well of the country during the war, and the Minister occupied a position of great importance. I doubt whether any major decisions of the war could have been made without his full knowledge, without consultation with the Minister of War Transport. The point of my remarks is that I know that those who are entitled to speak for the shipping industry today are most anxious that the future status of the Ministry of Transport and of its Minister should be fully as strong as it was during the war.
Although disagreeing on certain fundamental political principles with the present Minister and his Parliamentary Secretary, I think that we are fortunate to have them as the men in those important positions today. So far as the shipping side of the Minister's activities are concerned, I certainly hope that party politics will remain very much in the background, because the future of the British Merchant Navy, and of the magnificent men who man it, is of the greatest importance to this country, and should, I believe, be taken as far as possible out of the ordinary realm of party strife. I urge the Minister and the Government to realise now, and not forget, the vast importance of this Ministry to the whole life of the country, and to remember that on all questions of policy making, and particularly in relation to foreign affairs and treaty-making, the views and advice of the Ministry of Transport are essential, and that in time of peace the importance of his Ministry to the future of the country is just as great as in the dangerous days of war.
I understand that before the war, the President of the Board of Trade was a Member of the Cabinet. During the war, neither the Minister of Shipping nor the Minister of War Transport was actually a member of the War Cabinet. But that was a much smaller body than the Cabinet of today, and it is a matter of very serious concern that the present Minister of War Transport is not a Member of the Cabinet. As an individual, I am sure that he merits a place in it, and am certain that the importance of his Ministry is such that the Minister should be a Member of the Cabinet. I urge the 1839 Prime Minister to give that matter the most serious consideration.
Finally, during the war years, there has grown up, I believe, a very real understanding between the permanent officials of the Ministry of Transport and members of the shipping industry, both those who gave invaluable services to the country inside the Ministry, and those who carried on outside. There has grown up a real appreciation of each other's worth, and of what can be achieved by close co-operation between a Government Department and an industry, working together in a common cause. I trust that this may continue in the future, and that by close co-operation in the interests of the country, the shipping industry and the Ministry of Transport will achieve results which will discredit once and for all every doctrinaire urge towards further ventures into the realms of State ownership, adventures which in other directions leave me filled with the most abysmal gloom.

§ Mr. Strauss
I am sure that my Ministry and its officials will appreciate the words which have just been spoken, particularly as they came from one with such experience and knowledge of the shipping indus- 1840 try. If it were not so late, I should like to say a great deal about the admirable staff of the Ministry and the remarkable work done by the Ministry during the war, but I must content myself by saying that I completely endorse everything which has been said about the quality of the staff, and the spirit which animated the Ministry duringthe war; I would add that the Ministry of War Transport undoubtedly did a grand job of work, and I am sure that the Ministry of Transport will do an equally grand job during the peace.