Britain: An official handbook > 1966

264
BRITAIN: AN OFFICIAL HANDBOOK
Role of Public
Enterprise
from the many small workshops to vast organisations such as the National
Coal Board, a public corporation with about 575,000 employees; Imperial
Chemical Industries Ltd., a limited liability company which, with its sub¬
sidiaries, employs over 100,000 persons in the United Kingdom; and the
Co-operative Wholesale Society Ltd., a co-operative society with about
54,000 employees.
Throughout the first half of the twentieth century the growth of the social
services, especially health, education and housing, led to the progressively
greater influence of the public sector of the economy. There was also an
increase in the State’s direct participation in productive and commercial
activities, particularly in the decade 1940-50. State participation is effected
mainly through special statutory bodies set up to deal with a particular activity.
Such bodies, though not part of a government department, are under a
considerable but varying degree of public control (see p. 272). The most
important of these statutory bodies are the public corporations which operate
major industries and services in the public interest. Altogether over 9 per cent
of the labour force works for these bodies, while another 14 per cent is almost
equally divided between central and local government.
The public corporation today is, generally speaking, a public body having
a clearly defined and specific task. Its managing board and its staff are chosen
for their experience and competence in a particular field; they are not civil
servants, and although they are accountable to Parliament for their actions
in a variety of ways, it is they and not the ministers of the sponsoring
departments who are responsible for the management of the corporations.
Certain of the corporations are self-supporting; others receive Exchequer
grants to help them in carrying out the duties with which they have been
charged.
Before the second world war, a number of public corporations were
established1 in those industries and services where it was considered that the
national interest required co-ordination or control by a public authority.
Their constitutions had no standard pattern and their governing bodies
differed in the method of appointment and in composition.
Immediately after the second world war, the nationalisation Acts set up
public corporations to run certain major industries and services, including
coalmining, inland transport, gas supply, electricity generation and supply,
and civil air transport. These post-war corporations are less varied in the
structure of their governing bodies, which are appointed by the responsible
minister.
The following corporations, the organisation and functions of which are
described in later chapters, are now operating or controlling large-scale
industries or services:
1 The principal corporations appointed before the second world war were: (1) the
Central Electricity Board, established by the Electricity Supply Act 1926, to rationalise
electricity generation and build and operate a main transmission system; (2) the
British Broadcasting Corporation, established in 1927 by Royal Charter to provide a
national broadcasting service; (3) the Electricity Board for Northern Ireland, estab¬
lished by the Electricity (Supply) Act (Northern Ireland) 1931, to develop electricity
supplies in Northern Ireland outside the two county boroughs, Belfast and London¬
derry; (4) the London Passenger Transport Board, established by Act of Parliament
in 1933, to operate the public transport system of the London metropolitan area;
(5) the Northern Ireland Road Transport Board, established by the Road and Rail
Transport Act (Northern Ireland) 1935, to acquire public road transport services in
Northern Ireland outside the county boroughs; (6) the British Overseas Airways
Corporation, established by the British Overseas Airways Act i939> 10 take over the
operation of the two main existing air transport companies—Imperial Airways and
British Airways.