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144 
New Broom at the Ministry
Page 32
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"TT is true that I am creating a new 1 is
planning department for my Ministry" was the pertinent comment by Mrs. Barbara Castle, Minister of Transport, at her crowded first Press conference in London last week.
Discounting a claim that she had been shocked by the legacy that she had found at her Ministry, she insisted that a great deal of work had been going on in the study of many aspects of national transport policy. She intended to draw all these studies together and act on them.
A White Paper on national transport policy, she then disclosed, was being prepared. Chairmen of regional economic planning boards would meet her to fit national policy into regional plans. There was a need to pool research on these problems.
She rejected the proposal for a separate Transport Highway Authority made last week by Mr. S. E. Raymond, chairman of British Railways. Whilst she agreed that there was a need to co-ordinate investment over the whole field of transport, she could not accept that this function should be taken away from the Ministry.
On liner trains, Mrs. Castle said she attached great importance to their development. Discussion with union representatives on liner trains was high in her list of priorities.
Following repeated questioning at this Press conference as to whether Sir Thomas Padmore, aged 57, was to be replaced as Permanent Secretary of her Ministry, Mrs. Castle refused to confirm or deny this reported move. But she did confirm that the 35-year-old economist, Mr. Christopher Foster, was being considered as head of the new planning department being set up at the Ministry.
On Tuesday of this week Mrs. Castle confirmed the appointment of Mr. Foster, who will be director-general of economic planning. Among his first tasks are examinations of transport investment priorities and congestion tax.