HC Deb 14 May 1953 vol 515 cc1410-2
43. Mr. Ernest Davies

asked the Minister of Transport which organisations he has invited to submit nominations for appointments to the Road Haulage Disposal Board; in which cases names have been provided; and in which the invitation declined.

The Minister of Transport (Mr. Alan Lennox-Boyd)

The following bodies were invited to submit names for my consideration:

  • The British Transport Commission.
  • The Federation of British Industries.
  • The National Union of Manufacturers.
  • The Association of British Chambers of Commerce.
  • The Road Haulage Association.
  • The Traders' Road Transport Association.
  • The Traders' Co-ordinating Committee on Transport.
Each organisation has submitted a name or names, except the Traders' Co-ordinating Committee, which expects to do so shortly.

Mr. Davies

Why did the Minister include among the bodies invited to submit nominations bodies such as the Road Haulage Association, which are known to be interested parties, and will be more concerned about disposing of the national assets as cheaply as possible than obtaining the best possible price in the national interest?

Mr. Lennox-Boyd

I was proposing to give those reasons at length in a debate on the Adjournment Motion, which I have been informed will take place.

Mr. I. O. Thomas

Would the Minister indicate, if he thinks there are valid and justifiable reasons for inviting the Road Haulage Association to submit nominations, why he could not extend those reasons to inviting the trade unions catering for the men, like the National Union of Railwaymen and other unions?

Mr. Lennox-Boyd

Had the hon. Gentleman attended the debates he would know that the trade unions, I am sorry to say, declined the invitation.

Mr. Davies

Would the right hon. Gentleman now give the assurance that he refused to give on Monday that he will not appoint from these nominations anybody who has a direct interest in road haulage or any interest in financing it?

Mr. Lennox-Boyd

I am under somewhat of a difficulty in that notice to raise this matter on the Adjournment has already been given. This I can say, that to me, to the Government and to Sunder-land the Road Haulage Association is a very proper body to consult in regard to A and B licence holders.

Mr. McGovern

Are any distinctly Scottish bodies invited?

Mr. Lennox-Boyd

I said in the debate that I would consider any names that were submitted to me through these various bodies. The hon. Gentleman had better wait until I make a statement as to whom I have selected.

44. Mr. Callaghan

asked the Minister of Transport if he will announce the names of the members of the Road Haulage Disposal Board, together with their interests, direct or indirect, in the transport industry and the remuneration they are to receive by way of salaries, fees, allowances and expenses in respect of their membership of the board.

Mr. Lennox-Boyd

I am sorry I am not yet in a position to give this information.

Mr. Callaghan

The question was not put down in order that the right hon. Gentleman should be over-hasty, but to ask whether there was any other body, apart from the Road Haulage Association, which has entered into arrangements for financing the purchase of these units; and whether, in the circumstances, the right hon. Gentleman would agree that no such body should be appointed as a member of the Disposal Board?

Mr. Lennox-Boyd

I do not regard the formation of a company between the Road Haulage Association and the United Dominions Trust, or any other financial house that cares to make the same arrangement, as precluding a member of the Road Haulage Association from serving on this body. I understand, as a matter of fact, that the Road Haulage Association, though they might be recouped for expenses consequent upon the formation of the company, have actually no financial interest whatever in the proposed company.

Mr. Callaghan

While I understand that it might be difficult to find someone who is not a member of the Road Haulage Association, that is not really the point. The point is whether the right hon. Gentleman is really saying to the House that he is going to appoint someone representative of the Road Haulage Association on the Disposal Board who also will have an interest, through the Road Haulage Association, in purchasing units.

Mr. Lennox-Boyd

If the hon. Gentleman will recall the debates in which we both took part, he will know that in Clause 2 I do not appoint somebody because they represent a body, but after consultation with such bodies representative of persons holding A or B licences … The existence of this body, which has survived despite Socialist legislation, constitutes its right to give me its advice.