British Productivity Council

The British Productivity Council (BPC) was a body that aimed to increase Britain's industrial efficiency. It was formed in 1953 and superseded the Anglo-American Council on Productivity (AACP), which was formed in 1948 and dissolved in 1952.^[1] Until 1973, it was funded by the UK government before it was reorganised into smaller Local Productivity Associations and renamed as the British Council of Productivity Associations.^[2] The Council was dissolved in 1999.^[2]

History

The idea for the Anglo-American Council on Productivity came jointly from Stafford Cripps, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, and Paul G. Hoffman, the Marshall Plan administrator, in July 1948.^[3] The AACP operated from August 1948 to June 1952, with a budget of a million pounds, two-thirds of which was provided by the Marshall Plan.^[3] In response to a parliamentary question from William Teeling in November 1949, Cripps said that the UK government had contributed £87,500 to the AACP that year.^[4] The council was made of twenty members, twelve British and eight American, meeting in a joint session roughly once a year.^[3] British members included representatives from the Trades Union Congress, the Federation of British Industries and the British Employers' Confederation.^[3] The AACP commissioned hundreds of reports and We Too Can Prosper, a popular book on productivity by economist Graham Hutton.^[3]

Initial media coverage was unfavourable and trade union leaders were irritated that they had not been consulted and at the implication that British industry needed American help.^[3] Though there is no clear evidence that Britain significantly benefited from the AACP,^[5] the exercise was seen as "a great success" by its sponsors, leading to the establishment of the BPC in 1953. The Trades Union Congress "participated wholehartedly" in the BPC, to the criticism of some of its members, such as Les Cannon and Ted Hill, who was disciplined by the TUC for his public opposition to the BPC's productivity campaigns.^[3]

The BPC's first chair was Peter Bennett, the then-MP for Birmingham Edgbaston, and its first vice-chair was the TUC's Lincoln Evans.^[6]

The BPC also sponsered the creation of the National Industrial Fuel Efficiency Service.^[7][8]

Organisation

The BPC's chair alternated between a representative of the trade unions and one from the industry.^[9] Notable chairpeople and board members include:

Sir Peter Bennett^[10] William Carron^[11] James Crawford^[12] Lincoln Evans^[13]^[14] Thomas Jacomb Hutton^[15]

Lord McCorquodale of Newton^[12] Sir Charles Norris^[16] Ewart Smith^[17] Bertram White (a director of Albright and Wilson)^[18] Lord Williamson^[19]

Activities

The BPC started many campaigns, like the National Productivity Year from November 1962 to November 1963,^[20] and the Quality and Reliability Year in 1966.^[19][21] It also distributed a publication called Target aimed at educating workers and employers about better workplace practices and adapting to changing markets.^[9][22][23]

The BPC also made educational films. Dispute, a BPC film on industrial relations, won the BAFTA Film Award for Best Specialised Film in 1960.^[24] Sarah Erulkar produced several films for the BPC, including the Training For Industry series in 1959.^[25]

National Productivity Year

National Productivity Year was given patronage by the Duke of Edinburgh and was supported by both the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition at the time,^[16] Harold Macmillan and Hugh Gaitskell respectively. A set of commemorative stamps was released in November 1962 to celebrate it.^[16]

Its impact was described as "negligible",^[26] and it was recorded as beginning "disastrously" with a decline in outputs.^[27]

References

1. "Anglo-American Council on Productivity Pamphlets Collection Number: 5334". Cornell University Library. Retrieved 13 July 2019.
2. "British Productivity Council". Warwick University. Retrieved 13 July 2019.
3. Anthony Carew (January 1991). "The Anglo-American Council on Productivity (1948-52): The Ideological Roots of the Post-War Debate on Productivity in Britain". Journal of Contemporary History. 26 (1): 49–69. doi:10.1177/002200949102600103. JSTOR 260630. S2CID 153766524. Retrieved 3 January 2022.
4. "Anglo-American Council Of Productivity - Volume 469: 8 November 1949". Hansard. Retrieved 16 October 2023.
5. Carl H. Gottwald (1999). The Anglo-American Council on Productivity: 1948-1952 British productivity and the Marshall Plan. University of North Texas. p. 15.
6. "Economic Situation - Volume 507: 10 November 1952". Hansard. Retrieved 16 October 2023.
7. Industry in Britain: Organisation and Production. British Information Services. November 1964. p. 18.
8. "National Coal Board (Annual Report) - Volume 531: 25 October 1954". Hansard. Retrieved 16 October 2023.
9. Parliamentary Debates (Hansard).: House of Commons official report. H.M. Stationery Office. 1959. p. 1007.
10. "NEW PRODUCTIVITY COUNCIL: Sir Peter Bennett Chairman". The Guardian. 5 November 1952. p. 10.
11. Cook, Chris, ed. (2012). The Routledge Guide to British Political Archives. Routledge. p. 35. ISBN 9781136509629. Retrieved 13 July 2019.
12. "Freight Movement and Handling - Volume 200: 13 November 1956". Hansard. Retrieved 16 October 2023.
13. "Rising Productivity in Britain: Work of the British Productivity Council and the Trade Unions". Labor and Industry in Britain. 13: 60–66. 1955. Retrieved 3 January 2022.
14. Bellamy, Joyce; Martin, David; Saville, John, eds. (15 January 1993). Dictionary of Labour Biography, Volume 9. Springer. ISBN 9781349078455. Retrieved 13 July 2019.
15. "HUTTON, Lt Gen Sir Thomas Jacomb (1890-1981)". JISC Archive Hub. Retrieved 13 July 2019.
16. Derrick Page (February 1993). "SPECIAL STAMP ISSUE National Productivity Year" (PDF). Postal Museum. Retrieved 3 January 2022.
17. "Sir Ewart - A leader in the art of good management". New Scientist: 1076. 14 May 1959. Retrieved 13 July 2019.
18. "Bertram White". Grace's Guide to British Industrial History. Retrieved 13 July 2019.
19. "Quality And Reliability Year - Volume 277: 26 October 1966". Hansard. Retrieved 13 July 2019.
20. R. P. McCormick (March 1962). "General Notes". Journal of the Royal Society of Arts. 110 (5068): 264–268. JSTOR 41367089. Retrieved 3 January 2022.
21. "NATIONAL PRODUCTIVITY YEAR". Parliament.uk. 12 July 1962. Retrieved 13 July 2019.
22. . British Film Institute. Archived from the original on July 13, 2019. Retrieved 13 July 2019.
23. "Time and Motion Study Volume 5 Issue 2". Work Study. 5 (2): 11–59. 1956. doi:10.1108/eb048085. Retrieved 13 July 2019.
24. John Cole (26 April 1961). "BBC and ITV reject film on strikes". The Guardian. p. 13.
25. "Current Non-Fiction and Short Films". The Monthly Film Bulletin. 27 (312): 27. 1 January 1960.
26. Russell, Patrick; Piers Taylor, James, eds. (2019). Shadows of Progress: Documentary Film in Post-War Britain. Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 978-1838718121.
27. "Portrait of the Week". The Spectator. No. 7026. 22 February 1963. p. 215.