79.
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It is too early to draw any firm conclusions from this type of meeting but experience so far suggests that it would be wrong to nove in the direction of any single local advisory body at this stage. C.D.O.s have regular monthly meetings involving a fairly stable group of local leaders but those who attend would be the first to say that others would have to be brought in on any specific subject. The arrangements being made for Hawker Consultative Committees suggest another line of approach but there is a limit to the number of subjects on which the central policy- making or advisory body would wish to be assisted
by ten or more local bodies. Furthermore hawkers are generally recognized as constituting a special problem at the present time. The C.D.O. scheme does create a frame-work which can be used to gather local views but it is very easy to see how any extensive formalised arrangements could make administration so cumbersome as to bring their value into doubt.
80.
As Study Groups develop my present intentions are that their views should be brought to bear either directly on the department concerned through the presence of a departmental officer or, in appropriate cases, through briefs prepared for me or my senior officers to use in the Committees etc. on which we sit. Acknowledged experts in their fields are already known to departments. What we can aim to contribute through the organisation of Study Groups is the articulation of any special local views and the voicing of opinion by ordinary people mixed up in the various activities with which the Government is concerned. The best way to do this will for some time be a matter for experiment.
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