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THIS DOCUMENT IS THE PROPERTY OF HIS BRITANNIC MAJESTY'S GOVERNMENT)
CONFIDENTIAL
C.P. (51) 121
1ST MAY, 1951
CABINET
COPY NO. 3
31
PARLIAMENT AND THE SOCIALISED INDUSTRIES
ivlemorandum by the Home Secretary
I should be glad of the views of my colleagues on the reply which should be sent to a request from the Opposition through the usual channels that a Select Committee should be set up with the following terms of reference:-
2.
"To consider the present methods by which the House of Commons is informed on the affairs of the nationalised industries and to report what changes are necessary in the practice or procedure of the House to improve these methods and to enable the House to exercise an effective measure of control over these industries."
Whatever may be decided about the principle of an inquiry, these terms of reference are obviously unacceptable. It is indeed hard to believe that any party would want the House of Commons to be able to exercise 'effective control" over the socialised industries, and since the Opposition have always agreed in the past that the socialised industries should be free from meticulous political supervision of their day to day management, I conclude that the Opposition do not mean what their draft actually says and that their drafting has gone astray.
3. The danger of conceding an inquiry is none the less that the Opposition might use it irresponsibly as a method of pressing for forms of Parliamentary control which would be prejudicial to the commercial efficiency of the Boards, and they might have some support from Govern- ment back-benchers in proposals whose ostensible purpose was to extend the authority of Parliament.
4. On the other hand, there has for some time been a widespread feeling among all parties that the present arrangements are not entirely satisfactory, and that Parliament ought to be exerting more control over these great publicly owned monopolies. The Government have on several occasions said that they would be glad to listen to suggestions for improvements, provided that the efficiency of the Boards would not be endangered, and I think that it is true to say that, on the whole, the problem has been approached in a reasonable and non-partisan spirit by all parties. It may be doubted whether an inquiry would lead very far in practice, but it might at least serve the purpose of emphasising the real difficulty of the problem and showing that there are no short cuts to its solution.
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