Town and Country Planning
The Ministry of Town and Country Planning Bill, which got its second reading on Tuesday, has the effect only of setting up machinery for national planning without defining the policy which the new Minister (who is to be Mr. W. S. Morrison) is to apply. Sir William Jowitt, speaking for the Government, seemed to emphasise rather the limitations of the Minister's powers than the new range of duties which he might be expected to perform. The immediate effect of the measure will be to transfer powers derived from the Town and Country Planning Act from the Minister of Works and Planning to the new Minister, and the Bill gives some definition of his functions when it assigns to him the duty of " securing consistency and continuity in the framing and execution of a national policy with respect to the use and development of land." li It is clear that the Town and Country Planning Act will require drastic overhauling by Parliament before national planning can become a reality, and it is imperative that there should not be much more delay before the country is told what are the Government's decisions about the Uthwatt and Scott reports and what in general is its planning policy. One of the difficulties is that if too narrow an interpretation is put upon the Minister's powers urgent needs will not be satisfied ; but if national planning on a full scale is intended, the administrative spheres of other Ministers will be concerned, and it is not clear how the new machinery will meet the case.
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