§ Brigadier Clarkeasked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Admiralty whether he will now make a statement about the first part of the Report of Sir Barclay Nihill's Committee.
§ Mr. SoamesYes.
The Board of Admiralty has now considered the first part of the Report of the Committee under the Chairmanship of Sir Barclay Nihill which has examined the organisation for handling the materiel requirements of the Admiralty, including the headquarters departments of the Controller and the Dockyards.
As a result of this examination the Fourth Sea Lord, while continuing to perform his present duties in the field of supplies and transport, will, on behalf of the Controller, assume responsibility for superintendence of the Dockyards and maintenance of the Fleet. His title will be amended to "Fourth Sea Lord and Vice-Controller".
110WThis arrangement will lighten the load of the Controller and leave him with more time to devote to design and development.
It has also been decided to group the considerable number of Departments now reporting to the Controller into four main groups. Three of these—the Department of Naval Construction, the Department of Weapons and Radio, and the Department of Air Materiel—will come directly under the Controller; the fourth Department—Dockyard and Fleet Maintenance—will come under the Fourth Sea Lord and Vice-Controller. The headquarters departments of the Royal Naval Scientific Service will remain under the Controller as at present.
Each of these large Departments will be under the control of a Director-General. This is intended to afford fuller delegation of authority accompanied by more effective powers of co-ordination below Board level. This should enable more rapid decisions to be made and reduce the subjects which the Controller will have to attend to personally.
As this organisation becomes effective, the number of personnel at headquarters will fall.