The Ministry of Labour and National Service, by K. Ince

[p020] Minilab The Ministry of Labour and National Service. Sir Godfrey Ince. George Allen and Unwin. 25s. The importance of this book lies not in its scholarship or depth of analysis, but in the lack of any other text covering the field. The purpose of the New Whitehall Series, in which the volume is published, is to provide ‘authoritative descriptions of the present work of the major De- partments of Central Government’ and Sir Godfrey Ince is largely con-

[p021] tent to detail the development, the organization, and the functions of the Ministry of Labour, to which he was formerly Permanent Secretary. Under the general headings: Man- power, Industrial Relations, Inter- national Labour and Statistics, the work of the various branches of the Ministry, at national, regional and local levels, is reviewed. The welter of detail presented in these chapters derives from the author's first-hand experience in the Department: so, presumably, does the lack of objec- Uvity and _ theoretical perspective which becomes so apparent when- ever the text proceeds beyond the purely factual. Thus, on the few occasions when any aspect of Departmental policy is discussed, this is presented in total isolation from the political and economic pressures which inevitably determine such policy. The relation- ship between the Department and the government of the day is dealt with solely in the terms of the per- sonality of the Minister. The more tenuous but equally important re- lationship between the Ministry and organized capital is completely ig- nored. The British Employers’ Con- federation is mentioned in the text only in respect of its representation on minor advisory bodies. In the absence of any other single volume detailing the number and the nature of the industries regulated by Wages Councils, the composition of Military Hardship Tribunals, and the provisions of the Baking Industry (Hours of Work) Act, this work is of some value. As an account of the role of the state in industrial rela- tions the book could not, without being factually erroneous, be more misleading. JOHN PEEL. Shopfloor Opposition