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LABOUR HISTORY
Series One: British Labour Party Research Department Memoranda and Information Papers, 1941-1979
Part 1: Research Department Memoranda, July 1941 - December 1961
Composition and Role of The Labour Party Research Department, 1941-1961
Some Documents:
The following four documents from the microfiche collection are included in this guide to further illustrate the composition and role of the Labour Party Research Department during the years 1941 to 1961. They also highlight some of the problems faced by the Department in seeking to carry out its role effectively.
Confidential
Labour Party
R.D.9/November, 1945
STAFF NEEDS OF THE RESEARCH DEPARTMENT
1. The present work of the Department can be summarised as follows:-
(a) Provision of secretariat to the Policy Committee and its Sub-Committees, e.g. Joint Committee with the TUC on Trusts and Cartels.
(b) Maintenance of full records for information purposes.
(c) Provision of information on policy matters to M.P.s, candidates, Labour Parties, Trade Unions and other affiliated organisations, writers for the Press, individual members of the Party, etc.
(d) Provision of information and advice on all aspects of local government and the maintenance of contact with Labour Groups on Local Authorities.
(e) Editing and publication of the Labour Bulletin, Handbooks, e.g. General Election Speaker’s Handbook, 1945, and Local Government Handbook 1945-46, and any Policy Reports that may be called for.
(f) Preparation and publication of topical educational pamphlets in the Labour Discussion Series, and of advice on methods of making the best use of these pamphlets, including suggestions about syllabuses for week-end and summer schools. First six subjects are: Rise of the Labour Party, Shortages, Coal Nationalisation, Bank of England and Investment Control, Exports, and Local Government Reform, but others will follow at regular intervals.
(g) On the assumption that the Department takes responsibility for further Labour Party publications, e.g. Speaker’s Notes, Labour Year Book, possible Local Government Bulletin, Labour Diary, and election and campaign material, the work of the Department will be considerably augmented.
2. Present Staff
The present staff (with salaries) is as follows:-
(a) Grahame Miller, Research Assistant (General assitance with sub-committees, pamphlets, all servicemen’s queries, etc.) £350 p.a.
(b) Miss K Selby, Research Assistant (Records) £325 p.a.
(c) Miss V Hassid, Typist (Local Government, Bulletin and general enquiries) £300 p.a.
(d) Miss E Hutchinson, Typist and two juniors £221 p.a.
3. It is essential that at all times the Department should make the greatest possible use of voluntary workers, including M.P.s, members of the Fabian Society, P.E.P. and individual members of the Party. But at the moment the pressure on the Secretary, Miller and other members of the staff is too great to allow of the most effective mobilisation of volunteers.
4. At a meeting of the Policy Committee under the chairmanship of Mr Dalton on November 23rd, 1943, approval was given (subject to the decision of the Finance Committee) to a proposal for employing (in addition to the Secretary) 3 Senior Assistants, 2 Research Assistants, and 1 Administrative Assistant for the Bulletin, when the end of hostilities made such an expansion possible. If this decision were now adhered to, 2 Senior Assistants and 1 Research Assistant would be authorised. However, clearly the staff needs of the Department should be reviewed again in view of the changed circumstances, before action is taken in accord with the Minute of the above meeting.
5. The Gaps
The greatest gaps are as follows:-
(a) Local Government
It is quite impossible, while there is only one person working part of her time on it, to provide a proper service to Labour Groups, especially now that so many new Councils have been captured for the first time by the Party and so many new councillors elected; it is notable that 5,083 out of 7,815 Labour candidates in November were standing for the first time. The Department should be providing information, guiding Labour Groups and acting as a liaison between Central and Local Government policy; but this is out of the question at present.
The Campaign Committee has indeed already recommended that the Local Government Section should be reformed within the Department. To do this job well there will be needed:
1 Senior Assistant to take charge of the Section, in addition to Miss Hassid who should be upgraded to the level of Research Assistant. This could be Miller, who deserves a salary increase. But if the reorganisation of staff duties were undertaken, the rest of the Department would be denuded.
(b) Labour Discussion Series
It has been agreed that more stress should be laid on Party education, and on the dissemination of accurate information about the policy and progress of the Labour Government, through the Labour Discussion Series, etc. But this is no-one’s job at the moment. If Miller takes on the Local Government Section, it will be necessary to employ at least one person, with writing ability, to help with this Series.
Then there should be at least one person on the staff with research experience, for otherwise the Research Department will have no-one to carry out research for the Labour Discussion Series, Policy Reports and Committees, or on any matter on which the Department may be asked to help by Ministers.
(c) General Publications
If other publications are to be entrusted to the Department, some additional assistance will be required. Members of the existing Press Department should be available for dealing with printers, quotations, proof reading and general organisation. But as approved by the Campaign Committee, a person is needed to handle the technical details of layout, design, typography and photographic assembly. The employment of a competent person of this kind should go far to maintain, and raise, the standard of all Party publications.
(d) The editing of the Labour Bulletin, Speaker’s Notes, Labour Year Book, Speaker’s Handbooks, and possible Labour Party Local Government Bulletin (for circulation to 8,000 Labour councillors) will also be a heavy job. The addition of an editorial assistant for these publications would be most useful.
6. Summary
The most urgent needs are then for four additional members of the staff:
(a) Either 1 Local Government Assistant, or 1 Assistant for Labour Discussion Series (depending on what happens to Miller).
(b) 1 Research Assistant.
(c) 1 Editorial Assistant for Labour Bulletin, Handbooks, Year Book, etc.
(d) 1 “layout man”.
This is a minimum to cover the combined needs of Research and Publications. In view of the increased scope of the Department, this is less than the number already approved by the Policy Committee above referred to: it is realised that Party finances are very limited. Yet it is hoped that the Committee will be ready to review the Department’s requirements after a preliminary period. It is possible that revenue from the sale of publications to the public could be substantially raised when more paper becomes available. But this is for the future.
MICHAEL YOUNG
Secretary,
Research Department
Confidential
Labour Party
R.D.32/October, 1946
RESEARCH PROGRAMME 1946-47
1. It is clearly not too early to begin thinking about the Party’s programme* for the next General Election. Labour’s goal is democratic socialism. But this long-term aim needs to be broken down into immediate aims from time to time. The end of the Labour Government’s first term of office will mark a decisive stage on the road to full socialism and call for a wide-ranging reformulation of policy. This restatement should if possible be available in outline for discussion at the 1948 Conference so that well-focussed discussion in the Party can be carried on until the 1949 Conference to which a more final version of the programme could be presented.
[* This note is confined to home policy (with the exception of international trade) since any projects for research in the field of foreign policy will be a matter for the International Committee.]
2. In some ways the reformulation will present more difficulty than that contained in Let us Face the Future. The latter embodied the thinking of two decades which had offered practically no opportunity of carrying out Labour’s policy. The next election programme, on the other hand, will call for new and original thinking on certain questions during years in which many leading members of the Party, on the national and local levels, will be heavily occupied with vital current tasks, although if the Government’s policy on such matters as housing, the social services and education is fully successful there will be no need for any basic change in the Party’s programme. It is also far more difficult to draw up election programmes in advance than before the war since the Labour Government, unlike Tory Governments of the past, is introducing great reforms and their results cannot yet be foreseen in detail.
3. The Party’s Research Department should be one of the prime movers in the close study and new thinking that the next years require. The question discussed in this Note is how the Department can best discharge this important responsibility. The first consideration is that the functions of the Department are bound to be different from those it performed when the Party was in opposition, since the Ministerial members of the Party have at their disposal in their Ministerial capacity civil service staffs who can, indeed in the normal course of their work have to, devote attention to many of the problems which will inevitably figure in the next election programme. These civil service teams will usually have advantages in ease of access to facts and size of staffs which will be denied to the Research department or any other body outside the government. The first principle to guide the Party’s own work is, then, that the Research Department should not usually attempt to undertake studies already being tackled inside the government machine.
4. The second consideration is that, as mentioned above, the situation at the time of the next General Election cannot now be foreseen either in its general or its particular aspects. For instance, who knows whether the expected U.S. slump will so gravely prejudice Britain’s level of employment and balance of payments that the structure of multilateral trade envisaged in the Bretton Woods Agreement and I.T.O. proposals will have to be reconsidered for the future?
As far as the General Election is concerned, policy will have to depend on the Government’s success in countering the effects of U.S. deflation. Who can say whether the cotton industry will have been so bettered by the reorganisation, say on the lines of the Working Party Report, that its nationalisation will not be a matter of urgency? Clearly it would be a waste of effort to engage in any studies of cotton with a view to making recommendations for its post-Election future until the experience of its pre-Election future can be assessed. Who can say whether the Education Act and the policy built on it will be effective in raising educational standards for every child? Here again the changes being brought about must be given time to run their course. Will the standards of the National Health Service be so high that private practice will be on the decline? It would be foolhardy to prophesy. Will the level of social insurance contributions necessary to ensure a decent standard of benefits be so high for the low income groups that the insurance basis will have to be reconsidered? Only the future will tell. And there is a host of other questions which it would be extravagant to study at present. This suggests that research should be confined to those problems whose outlines can already be clearly discerned or which are current and bound to be continuing problems.
5. These limitations on the work of the Research Department may seem weighty. But in fact there is still a residual function of considerable importance.
(a) There are some pre-Election problems which although properly within the province of the civil service are such that it may be useful to have the ideas of the Research Department with its Party bias and other extra-Government bodies which can best be approached through the Department. Thus it may be worthwhile, and here the initiative lies with Ministers, to have certain problems examined from the Department’s angle. For instance the programme embodied in Let Us Face the Future may be completed before the next General Election and new proposals may have to be brough forward for the interim period, in which case the Department might have a part to play. It would, incidentally, be a good general rule that when projects are being chosen, priority should be given to those which are of both short and long-term significance.
(b) There are some matters which are strictly Party-political, so that they are not legitimate subjects for the civil service, and at the same time are long-term problems whose outlines are already clear and which might be usefully studied well before the end of the Labour Government’s first term of office. Examples are: (a) incentives to work in an economy of full employment, (b) the place of the arts in the community, (‘leisure opportunities’ should have a big place in the next election programme), (c) the nationalisation of the chemical industry, insurance, fishing, shipbuilding, the drink trade, petroleum distribution, etc., (although here the full facts, no doubt available in the Ministries, are in some cases not available in Transport House, (d) the whole structure of local government, (e) wholesale and retail distribution, (f) nationalisation of the land, (g) control of undistributed company profits in relation to investment and employment policy, (h) the machinery of central government.
(c) There are matters of joint concern to the Party and either or both the T.U.C. and the Co-operative Movement, in which case a joint study by Committees staffed by the Research Department and appropriate officers of the other bodies may be appropriate. Examples are: the function of Trade Unions in a nationalised industry, the length of the working week or retail distribution.
6. It must, however, be concluded that the scope in the immediate future for detailed research is not wide. It is submitted that the Department’s main job at present lies in the educational field, in clarifying the underlying objectives of the Party, in clearing up misconceptions, and in preparing the ground for a detailed formulation of policy for the next General Election when the moment is ripe. This is all the more important because it is undesirable that a cut and dried programme should be presented to Conference before the next Election; rather should the programme be the outcome of broadly-based and factually sound discussion within the Party on the fundamentals of the Party’s policy. The Labour Discussion Series of pamphlets, to whose contents the N.E.C. is not officially committed in detail, have made a start in ventilating some of these fundamental issues.
7. But it is suggested that a rather more ambitious set of small reports, although on somewhat similar lines to the Labour Discussion Series, should be produced on certain basic questions. It is proposed that an attempt should in the first place be made to tackle the following subjects:
(a) The Criteria for Nationalisation. (Being an assessment of the considerations which should be taken into account in the selection of further industries for public ownership).
(b) Economic Democracy. (Being a statement of what is meant hereby, and an examination of the methods whereby workers can take a constructive part in the formulation of industrial policy and be induced to feel that they are working for the good of the community).
(c) Planning and Private Enterprise. (Being an examination of the ways in which privately owned industry can be planned in order to ensure the maintenance of full employment and a rising standard of life).
(d) Management of the National Income. (Being an account of the problems of maximising the national income and of distributing it between various uses, and between income groups in such a way that a greater degree of income equality is brought about).
(e) Leisure Opportunities. (Being an account of the measures which should be taken to ensure that as productivity rises ample leisure opportunities are available; through local authorities and otherwise, to the ordinary family. The advantage of this report is that it would be lighter and more attractive than the purely economic studies and would no doubt have more political appeal).
How many of these subjects can be taken up immediately depends upon staff and upon how soon the Department’s responsibility for popular publications can be transferred to the new Press and Publicity Secretary. If research workers were available further subjects might be added and Incentives and The Place of Trade Unions in a Planned Economy (if considered politic) might rank for consideration.
8. It is hoped that, if the general proposal is approved, at least three of these small reports would be ready for circulation before the next Annual Conference. It would be stated in each that the report did not necessarily embody the views of the N.E.C. but was intended as a basis for discussion. It might be desirable to arrange some discussion of them at the Conference itself, since the complaint that the Party was not undertaking any forward looking research as made at the 1946 Conference might otherwise be repeated, since it might be beneficial to direct the thoughts of Party members to the future and since it might be of advantage to show in tangible form that the Party leadership was looking ahead beyond the first to the second five year term of office. (‘The Second Five Years’ might be a convenient general title for the series). It is, however, clearly impossible to suggest how such reports might fit into the Agenda until a specific decision has been reached about Conference Arrangements.
9. The research programme would have to be reconsidered after the Annual Conference at which time it may be possible to begin more intensive research. But there still remains the question whether any more detailed studies of particular problems should be commenced now with a view to publication later in 1947 and whether the N.E.C. is prepared to spend money on the additional staff that would be essential for stuch studies. Certainly close contact should be maintained with the Fabian Society, P.E.P., the National Institute of Economic and Social Research, the Oxford Institute of Statistics, the Department of Applied Economics at Cambridge and with other outside bodies who are engaged on current research projects of interest to the Party. In these cases the Party’s funds are not involved. But should the Party finance more research workers to be employed expressly on its behalf ? And if the answer is in the affirmative, should the money be given to the Fabian Society or the Research Department?
10. Naturally, the Research Department would benefit from increased staff. There is also a case for making a grant to the Fabian Society since there are some subjects on which the Society could more easily publish findings than the Research Department, since it may be advisable to secure reports on Party policy embodying a completely unofficial approach which could be compared with that of the Research Department, and since the Society may be able to contact certain people who would be chary about assisting the Party itself. The difficult question is that of the problems for study, for the Society is also subject to the two limitations discussed above; it may therefore be wise to keep the initial grant small with the possibility, if the first projects are efficiently executed, of expanding it later. The submission is that the Society should be given a grant of £500 so that the staff could be engaged to begin one or two detailed studies before the next Annual Conference and that the matter then be reconsidered; and that the subjects should be chosen from amongst the following: Nationalisation of Commercial Insurance, Chemicals or the Drink Trade; Retail Distribution (if the facts available before the Census are considered adequate); and the place of the Arts in the community. The subject would be chosen after consultation with the Society’s Officers and the Society would be asked to include a member of the Research Department on any study group that was set up; the form of eventual publication would be settled later.
11. There is one other matter which should be referred to. Wherever possible local Parties should be encouraged, sometimes in conjunction with local Research Groups to make studies of local problems such as the location of industry, housing policy and leisure facilities. If such studies became popular, they could in sum add an important ingredient to the Party’s national policy and an invaluable element to Labour’s policy in local government.
12. Summary
(a) A start should be made on the research work for the Party’s next election programme. But the Research Department should not usually attempt to undertake studies already being tackled inside the government machine; and should be confined to problems whose outlines in 1949 can already be clearly discerned or on already current and bound to be continuing problems. (Paras. 1-4)
(b) The Department is, despite these limitations, in a position to undertake research (i) on request from a Minister who wishes to obtain assistance on a particular problem, (ii) on certain matters which are strictly Party-political, and (iii) on matters of common concern to the Party, the T.U.C. and the Co-op. (Para. 5)
(c) The Department’s main job lies in the educational field, in clarifying the underlying objectives of the Party. To supplement the Labour Discussion Series, a set of small reports should be prepared on some or all of the following subjects: (i) Criteria for Nationalisation; (ii) Economic Democracy; (iii) Planning and Private Enterprise; (iv) Management of the National Income; (v) Planning for Leisure Opportunities; with Incentives and The Place of Trade Unions in a Planned Economy as other possible subjects. How many projects can be started will depend on staff. Such reports as are completed might be submitted, as bases for discussion, to the 1947 Annual Conference. It is assumed that responsiblity for popular publications will be transferred to the new Press and Publicity Officer as soon as possible. (Paras. 6-8)
(d) Some more detailed studies could be begun and if money for additional staff is available it can be given either to the Research Department or the Fabian Society. It is proposed that an initial grant of £500 be made to the Society for a detailed study of one or two of the following: Nationalisation of Commercial Insurance, Chemicals or the Drink Trade; Retail Distribution; and the Place of the Arts in the Community. (Paras. 9-10)
(e) Research groups in local Labour Parties should be encouraged. (Para. 11)
Confidential
Labour Party
R.D.57/May, 1960
RESEARCH DEPARTMENT: FUNCTIONS AND STAFF
1. The Need for a Research Department
No individual can hope to keep abreast of changing developments in all the different fields of politics. Consequently there is a need for the services of those who can specialise in particular fields who can be relied upon to digest and interpret the information available. This is the basic reason why, in modern conditions, it is almost inconceivable that a political party should not have a research department.
Even when the Party is in office, a research staff is necessary: for it has to assist the N.E.C. in the preparation of future policy and it has also to assist in keeping the Movement in the country fully informed of the problems and achievements of a Labour Government.
When the Party is in Opposition however – and when the period of opposition is as long as ours has been – the Research Department must not only help its political leaders in their policy making but must act, as best it can, as a shadow civil service as well.
2. Quality and experience
The Research Department does not, of course, make policy. But it must ensure that when committees of either the N.E.C. or of the Parliamentary Party are considering policy matters, all the relevant information and argument is available to them. A high standard of work is required and speed, accuracy, judgement and intelligence are needed.
In the past the Party has recruited very able men and women who did not possess much formal education. In the past 15 years, however, as the reforms in the educational system have opened up opportunities for higher education to the more able child, the Party like other employers has found itself recruiting more heavily from the universities.
Inevitably, we are up against stiff competition from other employers. The Department has done reasonably well in attracting recently-qualified graduates, but the real problem, however, has been to retain personnel after a few years’ service. As Research Department personnel marry and take on family commitments they find it increasingly difficult financially to stay. There is therefore a danger that the Department will be short of experienced staff – or alternatively that those who remain will be less able. Not everyone, of course, should be encouraged to stay in the Department for a long period. But the Department does need a hard core of experienced members.
These are very practical considerations. In recent years the proportion of experienced staff to inexperienced staff has rapidly declined. Defining ‘experienced’ as those persons who have served for at least three years in the Department or who have had experience in comparable employment, the ratios can be expressed thus:
1950: 7 to 2
1953: 8 to 2
1956: 8 to 2
1959: 6 to 7
1960: 3 to 5
The position today is that only three members of the Department have had more than two years’ experience.
3. Numbers
The number of research assistants required depends in the main on the functions the department is expected to perform. The number of Research Assistants employed in the Department at three-yearly intervals is shown below:
1950: 9
1953: 10
1956: 11
1959: 13
1960: 8
It will be seen that the transition from Government to Opposition has made surprisingly little difference to the strength of the Department. There were 9 members in 1949/50 and, on average, 10 members between 1951/55.
During the second period of Opposition 1955/59 – the period in which the Department sustained a large programme of policy work – numbers rose from 11 to a maximum of 13 in election year.
Now in 1960 we are below our 1949/50 strength of 9 members.
4. Parliamentary Briefing
A feature of the whole decade during which I have been in the Research Department has been the very limited amount of work – occasional briefs on major topics for Party spokesmen – that the Department has been able to do for the Parliamentary Party. It is now generally agreed (see Secretary’s paper) that much more must be done in this sphere. Since the election we have undertaken the following new services:
(1) Weekly report of news and comments for Parliamentary Committee.
(2) Information Series: generally, substantial papers on major topics available to the whole Parliamentary Party.
(3) More extensive briefing of Front Bench speakers and groups for Parliamentary debates.
These new services have kept the Department extremely busy. There are 16 major Departments dealing with home affairs and the eight members of the Research Department. In attempting to act as a shadow civil service for our Front Bench, are spread much too thinly.
We have not so far been able to cover the following groups of the Parliamentary Party: Science, Aviation, Public Information, Arts and Amenities. As far as Agriculture and Food are concerned, we rely upon the part-time services of an ex-member of the Department, Mr George Springall, under a special arrangement which has continued for the last 18 months. Further, we have been quite unable to give any assistance in the very important field covered by the Ministry of Labour.
It is clear that we cannot do as much as we would like to do in the field of Parliamentary briefing with our present strength. It is also clear that much more could be done if our numbers were enlarged.
5. Local Government Briefing
Labour councillors, no less than Labour M.P.s, need a briefing service. With local government elections taking place every year, this service has to be continuously active.
At irregular intervals a Newsletter for Labour Groups appears dealing with current legislation affecting local authorities. A new and substantial Local Government Handbook has recently been completed. To achieve closer contact with Labour councillors, an annual Local Government Conference has been held for the past four years.
6. Propaganada and Publications
The Research Department has always played a big part in Party propaganda. The Department produces the Speaker’s Handbook. It prepares and writes pamphlets on domestic policy. It produces, fortnightly, ‘Talking Points’. It is associated with ‘This Week’ and during an election it produces the daily Campaign Notes. Further, it produces much of the information which both the Press Department and, to a lesser extent, the Television and Radio Unit, need for their propaganda activities.
It is inevitable that the Research Department should continue to play an important part in propaganda work – for the good reason that both the facts and the policy about the facts are largely centred in it. In the future the Department needs to do more, not less, propaganda.
7. Policy
It is assumed that at least in the immediate future, the Research Department will not be engaged in the preparation of a large series of policy statements such as we were between 1955 and 1959.
Nevertheless, many policy issues are already with us and others will arise in the months and years ahead. The Department services as its main function the National Executive Committee’s Home Policy Committee, but there is also the Local Government Sub-Committee. Each of these committees has sub-committees – some temporary like the National Health Service Sub-Committee which with the publication of ‘Members One of Another’ has now completed its work, others like the Finance & Economic Policy Sub-Committee, have a more or less permanent existence.
The more committees and sub-committees there are the tighter the resources of the Department are strained. Nevertheless, if past experience is any guide, we shall do well if we manage over the years to keep the number of sub-committees and sub-sub-committees below six.
In addition there are joint committees with the T.U.C. and Parliamentary Party, whose number and activities we can only partially control.
It is, of course, vital that the Department should be able to give a competent and reliable service of information and advice to these committees. If it cannot then the N.E.C. will not be properly protected from the many special interests which play upon us, and the initiative in the policy field will inevitably pass to other oranisations who, with better research facilities, could out-gun us in major disputes.
8. Research
Genuine research into social, economic and industrial problems lies for the most part outside the capacity of the Department as at the present constructed. Nevertheless, we have a clear duty at least to keep in touch with the many research centres (which are often manned by Labour supporters) in the universities and elsewhere which are doing creative research work.
We must ensure that the results of independent research are brought to the notice of the Department and when required, to the Policy Committee. This is very important and requires a patient and persistent cultivation of personal contacts with outside researchers.
9. Conclusions
To spell out these functions in terms of personnel required in the Department is not easy. A great deal depends on the quality and experience of the people we recruit and the standard of service the Party demands.
I am, however, certain that we cannot satisfactorily carry out our duties to the Parliamentary Party, now entering its tenth year of Opposition, nor to the Home Policy Committee, with less than twelve people. (For purposes of comparison, the Committee might like to know that today, with all the resources of government available to their Ministers, the Conservative Party Research Department numbers well over 30).
Futhermore, I think that it will be advisable to review the position from time to time in the light of experience.
Grading of members of the Department has been suggested as follows:-
(a) Head of Department
(b) Two Grade I Research Assistants
(c) Three Grade II Research Assistants
(d) Six Grade III Research Assistants
Grading is, however, bound to be influenced by many factors and the structure outlined above is meant to be no more than a rough guide. For example, if a Grade II person of sufficiently high quality remains with us, we would want to promote him, and if need be increase the number on Grade I; similarly, with Grade III people moving to Grade II.
However, assuming a close relationship between length of service and higher grades, the structure outlined above does indicate an important requirement: i.e. that the number of experienced people should account for at least half the Department’s strength.
Confidential
Labour Party
R.D.90/November, 1960
Home Policy Sub-Committee
PROGRAMME OF WORK
The main task of the Policy Committee in the year ahead is the preparation of a general statement of home policy as outlined in “Labour in the Sixties” and endorsed by the Scarborough Conference.
The purpose of this statement, it will be recalled, is to put, as sharply as possible, our main criticisms of the emerging ‘affluent society’ and to point the new direction which a Labour Government would seek to give to the nation’s affairs.
Obviously we shall need to state in broad terms the methods and techniques of the changes we propose, but the intention is to avoid unnecessary detail. The arguments for avoiding too much detailed commitments are certainly well known to the Policy Committee: first, in a rapidly changing society detailed policies become quickly obsolescent; second, that too much detail gives unnecessary opportunities to the Tories to mobolise opposition to our proposals, and third, experience has shown that it is difficult to get across, even to our own members, more than a general outline of what we want to propose.
ACTION:
In the past, it has been found useful to appoint a sub-committee to prepare the first drafts of a policy statement, and for the sub-committee to co-opt such outside experts as it needs. Accordingly it is suggested that the Home Policy Committee now appoints a sub-committee for this purpose.
OTHER CONFERENCE DECISIONS
This year a number of other tasks have to be undertaken arising out of the decisions of the 1960 Annual Conference. Resolutions that deal with general policy can be considered by the sub-committee mentioned above. Detailed recommendations for dealing with other resolutions are contained in the document R.D.89 attached.
One subject, however, needs special attention: advertising. The N.E.C. has been requested by over 20 constituency Parties to undertake an “enquiry into commercial and political advertising”. This is a very important and potentially explosive issue. It is, moreover, a subject of very wide public interest, yet one about which surprisingly little is known.
This could, of course, be dealt with by a sub-committee, but the Policy Committee may think it better that a Committee of Inquiry along the lines of the 1959 Youth Commission, be appointed to invite and receive evidence from all interested organisations and individuals. Such a Committee of Inquiry would almost certainly attract far more information than could a conventional sub-committee. Furthermore, its report would not commit the Party to particular policies if it did not wish to be committed.
ACTION:
It is suggested, therefore, that such a Committee or Commission of Inquiry be appointed. If the Policy Committee would like to give the matter further thought before reaching a decision, a short paper can be prepared for the next meeting on its terms of reference.
SUB-COMMITTEES DEALING WITH CURRENT POLICY
At the last N.E.C. there was some discussion of the large number of sub-committees that now exist. During the past year efforts have been made to keep these down to the bare minimum, and in fact less work has been done through sub-committees than for many years past.
As members know, however, sub-committees exist not only because of Parkinson’s law, but because they do – or should – serve a purpose. In particular, a sub-committee working in a limited field can give a much more detailed consideration to problems than can the Policy Committee itself with its very wide range of responsibilities. Again it is only on the sub-committees that we can co-opt – and it is very important that we should – outside experts and men and women from other branches of the Labour Movement, notably the Parliamentary Party, Trade Unions and the T.U.C. However, although we cannot escape having a certain number of sub-committees, meetings should not be arranged unless the work genuinely warrants them.
1. Sub-Committee on Finance and Economic Policy
This is a standing sub-committee of members of the N.E.C. together with co-opted specialists which considers current matters of economic policy. It normally has a wide range of subjects under review although, owing to the delay in holding the Blackpool Conference and still more to the run-down of the Research Department staff last Spring, it has not been activated during the past year.
There are, however, a large number of subjects in the field of this committee which certainly need attention. Among the more important are:
Deterioration in the U.K.’s balance of payments
European trade policy: The Sixes and Sevens
Monetary policy in the light of the Radcliffe Report
The growth and finance of public expenditure
The membership of this Sub-Committee when it last met was as follows:-
N.E.C Members
Mr. H. Wilson, M.P. (Chairman)
Mrs. B. Castle, M.P.
Mr. R.H.S. Crossman, M.P.
Mr. D.H. Davies
Mr. H. Gaitskell, M.P.
Mr. R.J. Gunter
Mr. H.R. Nicholas
Co-opted Members
Dr. T. Balogh
Mr. A.G. Bottomley, M.P.
Mr. C.A.R. Crosland, M.P.
Mr. L.J. Edwards, M.P.
Mr. D. Jay, M.P.
Mr. R.H. Jenkins, M.P.
Mr. L. Murray
Mr. P.C. Gordon Walker, M.P.
ACTION:
The Home Policy Committee will wish to consider whether it wants to make any changes in the membership of this Sub-Committee.
2. Local Government Sub-Committee
This too is a standing Sub-Committee and deals with problems of local government policy. It has a continuing responsibility for giving guidance to local Labour Groups at all levels, and for preparing the Local Government Annual Conference.
This year with the Report of the Royal Commission on London already published, and with other reports expected soon, the Sub-Committee is bound to be extremely busy. Furthermore, the Queen’s Speech has foreshadowed a Bill on rating and Valuation which may well raise the whole complex question of local government finance.
The question of the terms of reference of the Sub-Committee has been raised, and in particular –
(1) whether it could convene meetings of magistrates and J.P.s,
(2) whether it should hold a watching brief over those aspects of social service policy in housing, education, etc. which impinge on local government.
This was discussed, as the Sub-Committee asked, with the General Secretary, but his illness unfortunately prevented any conclusions being reached.
There would appear to be no objection to the first of these proposals. But if the Local Government Sub-Committee is to widen its responsibilities in the social service field, it is important that the composition of the Committee be carefully considered. At the moment there is insufficient overlap between its membership and that of the Policy Committee.
ACTION:
It is suggested that this matter be further discussed with the new Chairmen of the Policy and Local Government Sub-Committees.
In the meantime, the Sub-Committee can continue to meet. Its membership was as follows:-
N.E.C Members
Mr. A. Skeffington, M.P. (Chairman)
Miss A. Bacon, M.P.
Mrs. E. Braddock, M.P.
Mr. E.G. Gooch, M.P.
Mr. A. Greenwood, M.P.
Miss M. Horbison, M.P.
Mrs. E. White, M.P.
Co-opted Members
Mr. G. Dale
Mr. W. Fiske
Mr. C. Hughes, M.P.
Mr. J. MacColl, M.P.
Mr. J. MacInnes, M.P.
Mr. G.W. Reynolds, M.P.
Mr. W. Ross, M.P.
Mr. E. Rouse
Mr. M. Stewart, M.P.
Dr. M. Watson
3. Study Group on Security and Old Age
The Study Group which produced the National Superannuation Plan has continued its work on the many problems current and long-term that exist in the social security and pensions fields. The Study Group has in mind a substantial report in time for the 1962 Conference.
The membership of the Study Group under last year’s N.E.C. was as follows:-
N.E.C Members
Mr R.H.S. Crossman, M.P. (Chairman)
Mr. G. Brinham
Mr. R. Gunter
Miss M. Herbison, M.P.
Mr. D. McGarvey
Mr. H.R. Nicholas
Mr. H. Wilson, M.P.
Co-opted Members
Dr. B. Abel-Smith
Mr. W.H. Clough
Mr. J. Griffiths, M.P.
Mr D. Jay, M.P.
Mr. T. Lynes
Mr. H. Marquand, M.P.
Mr. R. Prentice, M.P.
Mr. G.W. Reynolds, M.P.
Mr. W. Ross, M.P.
Mrs. P. Stedman
Prof. R.M. Titmuss
Mr. P. Townsend
T.U.C. Observers
Mr. T. Burrows
Mr. C.R. Dale
Mr. G. Lowthian
Mr. L. Murray
Mr. L.T. Wright
ACTION:
The Home Policy Committee will wish to consider whether it wishes to make any changes in this Study Group.
4. Sub-Committee on Television and Radio
This Sub-Committee was formed two years ago when it was widely thought that a decision on the third television service was about to be made. In fact developments in television policy have been slower than was anticipated and the Committee was only called together in June of this year.
With the Pilkington Committee now in being, it seems likely that the struggle for the third television service and for commercial sound radio will warm up. TV and sound radio are not the only media that needs attention. Monopoly trends in the press, cinema and theatre are legitimately causing much concern.
With this in mind, it is suggested that the terms of reference of the Sub-Committee be widened to include consideration of other media.
The membership of the Sub-Committee under last year’s N.E.C. was as follows:-
N.E.C. Members
Mr. A. Greenwood, M.P. (Chairman)
Miss A. Bacon, M.P.
Mr. R.H.S. Crossman, M.P.
Mr. T. Driberg, M.P.
Mr. A. Wedgwood Benn, M.P.
Co-opted Members
Mr. H.W. Bowden, M.P.
Mr. G.A. Brown, M.P.
Mr. P.C. Gordon Walker, M.P.
ACTION:
The Home Policy Committee will wish to consider whether it wants to make any changes in the membership of this Sub-Committee.
5. Sub-Committee on Industry and Science
The Policy Committee is frequently asked for policy or guidance on the problems of particular industries. Among the industries considered in recent years have been cotton, aircraft, machine tools, chemicals, shipbuilding in the private sector and, in the nationalised industries, coal, the railways, atomic energy and the air lines.
These problems have had to be considered as they arose either by a Research Department study coming straight to the Policy Committee or through special Working Parties set up for the purpose. In my view this has not proved very satisfactory. We tend to look at industries when they are in real difficulties and we tend further to see their problems rather too narrowly from the viewpoint of the industry concerned rather than from that of industry generally.
ACTION:
Further, in all industries today research and development work, new scientific discoveries and new production techniques are playing an increasingly important part. On these matters, however, we have no expert advice to draw upon. With this in mind, it is suggested that the Policy Committee set up a new Committee on Industry and Science which would co-opt appropriate specialists.
6. Joint Committee on Fuel and Power Policy
The Joint Committee with the T.U.C. on questions of fuel and power policy was set up last year. With the Publication of “Fuel & Power: An immediate Policy” this summer, the most urgent policy needs in this field have been met. Unless the T.U.C. strongly wishes the Joint Committee to continue, there seems no reason why the matters still outstanding – mainly coal distribution – should not be dealt with by the Industry and Science Sub-Committee mentioned above.
Although it is unlikely that we ourselves would take the initiative in reactivating this committee, it may be wise to reappoint members to it in case the need for further meetings arose.
The N.E.C. representatives were:-
Mr. H. Wilson, M.P. (Chairman)
Mr. D.H. Davies
Miss M. Herbison, M.P.
Mr. H.R. Nicholas
ACTION:
The Policy Committee will wish to consider whether it wishes to make any changes in the membership of this Joint Committee.
7. Joint Committee on B.T.C. Finances
This Joint Committee of the N.E.C. of the Labour Party and the General Council of the T.U.C. has been in being for a number of years. Last year it held a series of meetings and made substantial progress in reaching agreement on policy for the B.T.C.
With big impending changes in Government policy towards the railways, it may well be that further meetings of this Joint Committee will be required.
The N.E.C.’s representatives on this Joint Committee last year were:
Mr. A. Wedgwood Benn, M.P.
Mr. C.W. Evans
Mr. H.R. Nicholas
Mr. H. Wilson, M.P.
ACTION:
The Policy Committee will wish to consider whether it wants to make any changes in the membership of this Joint Committee.
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