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Colliery Engineering

February, 1945

A Central Coal Board

For the proper observance and maintenance by the Industry itself of these principles (and of any others that may be established from time to time as governing principles for the Operation of the Industry), and for the purpose of acting as Trustees to Parliament and the country at large for such observance and maintenance, I propose that there shall be established within, the Industry a Central Authority to be called "The Central Coal Board" with a definite constitution prescribing the powers it may exercise for the application of these principles throughout the Industry; and that every colliery undertaking in the country employing more than 30 persons underground (including all composite undertakings in so far as their coal interest is concerned), shall bind itself and its assignees and successors in title irrevocably to accept as binding every decision made by the Board in accordance with its constitution, and faithfully to give effect to them in practice, and that it will accept as final a resolution of the Board that any decision is in fact in accordance with the established principles governing the conduct of the Industry.

It will be necessary also for the Coal Commission to agree to insist upon a similar irrevocable covenant to be accepted by every colliery undertaking to which it grants a lease.

It shall be the duty of the Board to have prepared and submit to the Minister of Fuel and Power, for the information of the Government, of Parliament and the general public, an Annual Report surveying conditions in the Industry and covering fully the operations of the Board during the previous twelve months.

I attach great importance to this Annual Report being prepared in such a way as will enable the Government, Parliament, and the public generally, to have full information every year with regard to the progress that is being made by the Industry in every sphere of its activities. The Report should discuss frankly the unsatisfactory as well as the satisfactory features, so that any reader can really judge for himself ho w things are getting on.

I propose also that in each District there shall be established a District Board appropriately constituted and equipped, first to initiate fully and freely, and with a full sense of authority and responsibility, progress within the District in line with these principles; secondly, to act as authoritative and essential outposts of the Central Board for carrying into effect in each District the decisions of the Board, and for the provision of all necessary information and advice to assist the Board in arriving at its decisions; and generally to act, as vital connecting and operating links between the Central Board and the individual colliery undertakings.

I do not think it is necessary to develop in detail at this stage the organisation that it will be necessary to create for the future, but I do think it advisable to set down what appear to me to be some fundamental requirements.

(i) The Central Coal Board should consist of not more than fifteen members excluding the Chairman.

(ii) The Board should be drawn entirely from within the Industry and should be composed of men of high standing and good reputation actively and presently engaged in its work, who can be relied upon to approach their responsibilities in a statesmanlike way and to think nationally and not sectionally. If any inside or outside the Industry should think or suggest that such men are not to be found within its ranks, I am quite certain that they are wrong, because I have met and could select personally many more than the number required.

(iii) Majority decisions would be binding and the Chairman would have a casting vote.

(iv) None except the Chairman need be full time. Monthly meetings should be sufficient.

(v) Although it would defeat the whole object if individual members of the Board were to be regarded, or were to regard themselves, in any way as representatives of individual districts, at the same time it would be right and proper that the Board should be fairly representative of the various coal areas of the country. The Chairman, who would devote his whole time to the work, should be appointed by the Mining Association in General Meeting.

(vi) In order to ensure continuity, the nominations would be for a period of five years with the usual provisions for interim resignation and filling of vacancies.

(vii) As a general rule the members of the Board, with the exception of the full-time Chairman, would be unpaid, but with the approval of the Central Committee of the Mining Association the rule could be departed from in special cases.

(viii) It would clearly be of advantage that the Board should contain strong representation of the technical, commercial and administrative sides of the Industry, and should include at least two members who started in the Industry as boys in the pit and have worked their way up to whatever position they might occupy to-day.

(ix) The Board should be provided with a strong administrative staff, including at least two and preferably three first-class Mining Engineers.

It will not be necessary, and it would not be desirable, to impose upon each District a standard type of organisation, but there will be some features which must be common to all.

(i) Just as the Central Coal Board will have a full-time Chairman and a full-time staff of experts, so will it be necessary in my view for the District Board in each of the larger areas at any rate to have a full-time Chairman holding a permanent appointment. He and his staff should be appointed by the District with the approval of the Central Board. Smaller districts might well be grouped for this purpose.

(ii) Each District (or group of smaller Districts) should be entitled to have such a technical staff appointed as, with the approval of the Central Board, might appear to the District to be necessary for the discharge of its responsibilities. In the larger Districts this staff might well be a small replica of the national staff.

(iii) Subject to consultation with each District and subject to its size and needs, it would also appear necessary for a technical committee to be formed in each District on a voluntary basis for the purpose of carrying out the preliminary surveys and the subsequent inspections that will be necessary to give full effect to Principle IV.

(iv) The permanent District Chairman would be the two-way channel for contact between the District, and each undertaking in it, and the Chairman of the Central Board, and would submit a report to the Central Board for consideration at every meeting and would attend the meetings personally when requested to do so.

I have already entered more into the detail of the organisation than I had intended to do. I am quite certain that, if the main principles of the new organisation are accepted by the Industry, there will be no difficulty in settling all necessary formalities and details without any delay or difficulty.

It may appear to many in the Industry that the powers proposed to be given to the Board in accordance with the preceding paragraphs represent an unnecessary and unjustifiable interference with the sovereignty and autonomy of individual undertakings, but I am personally satisfied that it would not be possible by any less measures either:

(a) to provide for the degree of reconstruction, modernisation and mechanisation which I am satisfied lies in front of us, or

(b) to give labour the standard of life and stability that it deserves and must have, or

(c) to provide capital with a margin that is adequate for the proper development of the Industry and maintenance of efficiency, or

(d) to give the country the assurance it is entitled to have that this Industry will be everywhere raised to and thereafter everywhere maintained at the high state of efficiency which is essential if coal is to play its proper, indeed its vital and essential, part in our national economy and prosperity.

I have been encouraged to think that the Industry as a whole or in its greater part will feel the need for a drastic reorganisation of this kind, both in the national interest and in the interest of its own economic stability and eventually prosperity, first of all by the study of plans for the future that have been prepared in some districts and have been advanced in one or two cases almost to the point of final completion; secondly, by the many individual proposals that members of the Industry have been good enough to send me, and, thirdly, by the many discussions I have had with the leading colliery owners, individually and collectively, throughout the country.

Conclusion

On most of these proposals Mr. Foot offers comments, some of considerable length, and concludes by surveying his plan in the following terms — What does it do for the miner? I make no apology for putting him first, because he has put himself — and his wife and children — first in my mind. It lifts the dignity of his labour and his standard of life, and his opportunities for advancement in the Industry, and therefore his peace of mind and domestic happiness, into the realm of a national trust as a sort of foundation in the future for the whole business. And in return, what do I ask from the miner? That he should read this report for himself and give it his confidence, anyhow to the extent of believing that it means what it says. For him the proof of this pudding will be in the eating — and it is as an essential part of the recipe that he should do his best, with good and continuous work, with flexibility and a liberal approach to mechanisation and all cost-reducing processes, to make the plan work.

What does it do for the owner? It gives him stability, too, and every possible facility for raising the efficiency of his operations. And it gives him, also, full scope for real enterprise with its proper reward. And what do I ask from the owner? From him and from the management generally, a faithful and loyal acceptance. of the new scheme of things; enterprise, efficiency and adaptability to all modern methods, technical and otherwise, leading to greater efficiency.

What does it do for the consumer? It gives him a straightforward deal and holds out real hope — and I believe it to be the best hope — of a plentiful supply of coal of the proper quality and at a proper price. And what do I ask from the consumer? An understanding of the immediate problems that face the Industry and sufficient patience to give the miner and the owner a chance to make the plan work.

And what does it do for the Country? It puts the future of its basic Industry on to the plane of a national trust and gives, I sincerely believe, a foundation upon which its future prosperity and happiness can be built.

There is no fairy wand in all this. There are years of hard work in front of the Industry — all sides of it — but I do believe that my proposals, if faithfully followed, point a way that will lead to a happy and prosperous Coal Industry.