HC Deb 15 July 1969 vol 787 cc388-9
15. Mr. Jopling

asked the Minister of Public Building and Works what recent changes he has made in the structure and organisation of his Department; and whether he will make a statement.

Mr. John Silkin

Plans are well advanced for a re-organisation of the headquarters of my Department, which will come into effect on 1st October, 1969. I will circulate more details in the OFFICIAL REPORT.

Mr. Jopling

May I congratulate the Minister on at last condescending to give the House this important news a month after he told the Press? Can we have an assurance that this change has been brought about with the Minister's proper rôle as sponsor of the construction industry fully in mind?

Mr. Silkin

I hope that the hon. Gentleman and the whole House will acquit me of a deliberate discourtesy. I looked into the precedents, and I found that when the present organisation was set up no statement was made to the House by the noble Lord the late hon. Member for Totnes in introducing the division of administrative and professional responsibilities in 1851.

Following is the information: My Department is to reshape its top management structure in accordance with the general principles recommended by the Fulton Committee. The aim of the new organization is to unify administrative, financial, and executive authority at the higher levels in the Ministry. This will end the present system of separate hierarchies of professional and administrative staff. In its place there will be a unified system in which each block of functions will be under a separate director or manager responsible for all aspectsits work. Directors or managers will be drawn from the professional and administrative ranks of the Ministry and of the 25 new appointments 13 go to architects, engineers and other professional and scientific staff and the rest to administrators. The following chart gives the proposed organisation in outline.