National Coal Board Research Articles

Organisation and Management in National Industries

THE general lessons to be learned from the experience of the coal industry under national ownership in Britain are clearly of great importance and wide interest in view of the prominent position in the Government programme for nationalization of industry. A certain amount of material is already available. Sir Charles Reid contributed a series of important articles to The Times last November, and now a useful report, "The Organisation of the Coal Board", by Colonel C. G. Lancaster, has been issued by the Conservative Political Centre. The National Coal Board has prepared a statement on what it describes as the "main recommendations"of the committee set up under the chairmanship of Sir Robert Burrows to investigate the organisation of the Board ; the reason given for not publishing the complete report is that it "would not be in the best interests of the industry". This ignores the large section of public opinion which is concerned to observe impartially the results of this great experiment in public ownership, with the view of remedying whatever defects of organisation, equipment or other matter that may be revealed, and of seeing that any further experiments in nationalization should be able to avoid the same mistakes. The decision to withhold full publication consorts ill with a Government policy which has established the British Institute of Management and is pressing for higher standards of management in industry.

British Public Administration: The National Coal Board

THE expanding role of public administration in the postwar world is nowhere more strikingly evident than in Britain today as the Labour Government's vast program of nationalization of basic industries raises unprecedented problems of organization and administration. Three times the size of General Motors (in terms of personnel employed) and charged with the technical rehabilitation of the most vital element in the British industrial complex, the National Coal Board is especially germane for scrutiny not only by administrators but equally by political practitioners and students of politics. The British effort to carry out full-scale public ownership within a framework of traditional democratic liberty is at once a fascinating study in political dynamics and a challenge to the art of public management. Moreover, if it is true, as often maintained, that American experience tends to follow the pattern of British socio-political movements, it may be well to analyze and evaluate carefully the evolving drama of British socialism in action.

(a) Research on Human Problems in the National Coal Board, by C. L. COPE, B.A., D.M., F.R.C.P., Scientific Department, National Coal Board

(a) Research on Human Problems in the National Coal Board, by C. L. COPE, B.A., D.M., F.R.C.P., Scientific Department, National Coal Board

(c) A Medical Service for the Coal Mining Industry, by E. H. CAPEL, M.D., M.R.C.P., D.C.H., D.P.H., Principal Medical Officer, National Coal Board

(c) A Medical Service for the Coal Mining Industry, by E. H. CAPEL, M.D., M.R.C.P., D.C.H., D.P.H., Principal Medical Officer, National Coal Board

Machinery of Government

SEVERAL distinct trends in public affairs have directed fresh attention in recent months to the adequacy or otherwise of the existing instruments of government in meeting the post-war needs of Britain. The reorganisation of the defence ministries under a co-ordinating Minister of Defence and the tendency to enlarge the responsibilities of the Lord President of the Council for the oversight and co-ordination of scientific effort, making him in effect the Minister for Research and Intelligence suggested by the Haldane Committee of many years ago, have raised the question of the efficiency at the highest level of administrative organisation. The formation of the Defence Research Policy Committee and the Advisory Council on Scientific Policy, with their various sub-committees, is only one special aspect of the problem of relating knowledge to power at the very seat of authority. Sir Stafford Cripps' appointment as Minister for Economic Affairs was another indication of re-organisation in accordance with the recommendations of the Haldane Committee. The Government's programme of nationalization and the creation of the National Coal Board and similar national boards have also brought into question both the capacity of the Civil Service itself and the existing structure of government to deal competently and efficiently with the issues involved, while proposals for the re-organisation of local government and regionalism have likewise stimulated thought on these matters.

Scientific Aspects of the Work of the National Coal Board

Scientific Aspects of the Work of the National Coal Board

Industrial Research in Wales

A REGIONAL conference on "Industry and Research in Wales", organised jointly by the Industrial Research Committee of the Federation of British Industries and the Industrial Association of Wales and Monmouthshire, will be held at Cardiff on March 10. Sir William Griffiths, managing director of the Mond Nickel Co., Ltd., will preside at the morning session and Sir Gerald Bruce, of the Industrial Association of Wales and Monmouthshire, in the afternoon. Among others taking part will be Sir Frederick Rees, principal of University College, Cardiff, Dr. W. D. Scott, of Monsanto Chemicals, Ltd., Capt. H. Leighton Davies, of the Steel Company of Wales, Ltd., Mr. Harry Davies, of I.C.I., Ltd., Dr. Idris Jones, of the National Coal Board, and Mr. R. K. Sanders, of the Metal Box Co., Ltd. Sir Percy Thomas, of the Welsh Board for Industry and the Industrial Association of Wales and Monmouthshire, will sum up. Further particulars can be obtained from the Industrial Research Secretariat, F.B.I., 21 Tothill Street, London, S.W.I, or from the Industrial Association of Wales and Monmouthshire, Aberdare House, Mountstuart Square, Cardiff.

COAL UTILISATION RESEARCH IN GREAT BRITAIN

ON December 12, Mr. R. W. Foot gave the presidential address to the British Coal Utilisation Research Association, his last before the vesting date of the nationalization of the coal industry in Great Britain. This Association worked for eight years under the control of the Mining Association, which had contributed for maintenance during this period more than eight million pounds. The Mining Association had envisaged the development of a permanent institution, more particularly since the possibility of nationalization of the coal industry was recognized. In that event it was hoped that the National Coal Board would agree to take over the activities of the Association. In anticipation, and in order to prevent the slackening which might arise during a period of uncertainty as to the future, the Mining Association continued its financial support without reservation until the vesting day, January 1, 1947. The National Board has accepted the principle mentioned, and on that day stepped into the shoes of the Mining Association so far as the British Coal Utilisation Research Association is concerned, and was able to find the organisation in a state of full activity.

National Coal Board: Director of Carbonization Research

National Coal Board: Director of Carbonization Research

National Coal Board: Director-General of Research

DR. W. IDRIS JONES, in accepting the post of director-general of research for the National Coal Board, becomes the chief executive officer of Sir Charles Ellis, the scientific member. The Board is composed of functional members responsible respectively for production, marketing, labour, finance and scientific work. The scientific member's responsibility embraces problems ranging from day-to-day investigations connected with quality control to long-term research. Dr. W. Idris Jones, who is forty-six years of age, has wide scientific and technical experience to help him in this important appointment. He graduated at the University College of Wales, Aberystwyth. He was a Rhondda and Frank Smart research student of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, and took his Ph.D. (Cantab.) degree in 1925. After leaving Cambridge, he joined the research staff of Messrs. Synthetic Ammonia and Nitrates, Ltd, (later I.C.I. (F. and S.P.), Ltd.), at Billingham-on-Tees, and was later appointed a group manager in the Oil Division, where he was concerned with the development of the coal hydrogenation process. He was appointed director of research of the Powell Duffryn Co. in April 1933, an appointment which he has held until now.

National Coal Board: Chief Mining Engineer

THE National Coal Board has appointed Prof. Douglas HMT to be chief mining engineer to the Board. Prof. Hay is president of the Institution of Mining Engineers and honorary professor of mining in the . University of Sheffield. He is at present managing director of Barrow Barnsley Main Collieries, Ltd., and the arnsley District Coking Company, Ltd., also technical director of the Wombwell Main Company, Ltd. He was H.M. Inspector of Mines for Durham and North Staffs during 1920–22; and professor of mining in the University of Sheffield during 1922–25. He has been consulting engineer on ventilation of the Mersey Tunnel (1929–37) and Dartford Tunnel since 1937.

Announcements

BRIGADIER O. H. WANSBROUGH-JONES, fellow of Trinity Hall, Cambridge, has been appointed scientific adviser to the Army Council in succession to Sir Charles Ellis, who is a member-designate of the National Coal Board.

National Coal Board

AT the first meeting of the National Coal Board held on December 21, Major the Right Hon. Gwilym Lloyd George, Minister of Fuel and Power, presided. He pointed out that the establishment of the Board completes the final stage in the Government's plan for the war-time reorganization of the industry in Great Britain. The Board would advise the Minister, in whose hands control of the industry is vested, and he appealed to members of the Board to approach the problems with which they would deal from a national point of view, and on the basis of national service. Sub-committees were appointed for dealing with the following matters : (1) The general planning of production, including the allocation of district and regional targets. The best means of securing the highest efficiency of the coal-mining industry and any improvements in machinery or methods of operation whereby output may be increased. (2) The provision of supplies, equipment and materials for the conduct of mining operations. (3) Matters relating to the maintenance of man-power and labour productivity, including the enrolment of new entrants and the instruction, training and advancement of boys and youths. (4) All matters affecting the welfare of mine-workers, including housing, transport and feeding facilities ; and questions of health and safety and, in particular, such occupational diseases as silicosis and nystagmus, with the view of providing all possible preventive measures, clinical treatment and rehabilitation.