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Political Commentary
Page 116
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Indirect Censorship
By JANUS
Fd CONOMY has become a major virtue. Whatever is done in its name is accepted without question.
More often the "interests of economy" provide the invulnerable excuse for not doing something. Each annual report of the Licensing Authorities since the war begins with a brisk reference to economy and proceeds on the ass.umption that the public will accept a summary. At first the need to save paper and printing was given as an additional ,explanation. It is now no longer as cogent as it was, but the reports are still issued as summaries, and the perfunctory obeisance to economy is all the satisfaction given.
Lack of detailed information may not matter so much in the reports on public service vehicles. Much of what is missing can be obtained fairly easily from other sources. Publication of the full reports could be chiefly valuable as a ready means for checking what improvements had been made in services over the year and what alterations had been made in fares. The picture built -up in this way would show the shift and growth of population, and perhaps also give an indication of the changes in public demand. Little information of this kind can be gleaned from the current reports. They note ,increases in the number of applications for licences and for variations, but say nothing to help judge the effect on the-community of the licences granted.
The development of trade and industry may be vividly reflected in the complete reports of the Licensing Authorities for Goods Vehicles covering the year up to. the end of September, 1953. If so, the reflection is dimmed in the summary of the reports that has recently , been published by the Ministry of Transport. There are some useful notes, that might well be expanded, on the changing face of the traffic courts. The operator who does not turn up, or does not prepare his case properly, is sharply rebuked. The number of objections declined noticeably in some areas, possibly, it is suggested, because the onus of proof now lies on the objector. British Road Services lodged fewer objections than before to applicants wishing to do short-distance work, especially in rural districts.
Vigorous Resistance ,
As might be expected, the drop in objections particularly affected applications for renewal without modification. Applications from newcomers, or for additional tonnage, were resisted as vigorously as ever. Objections, in fact, were lodged to 4,661 of the 26,455 notifiable applications received, and out of the total/ number of 11,722 objections British Railways were responsible for 33 per cent., British Road Services for 27 per cent., and other road hauliers for the remaining 40 per cent.
Apart from one or two general comments at the end of their summarized reports, the Licensing Authorities seem to be looking always inwards to the traffic courts and never to the world outside. There are many things it would be interesting to know, such as the number of new entrants and the extent to which existing operators have succeeded in enlarging their businesses. What kinds of traffic are most sought after by applicants, and for what traffic are they most likely to get a licence?
Some of this information may be found from a diligent search of Applications and Decisions, but it is a p:ty the 1130 opportunity is not taken to give a complete picture in the annual reports, which could be far more useful.
On one subject there is justification for not saying much. Some of the licensing provisions of the Transport Act, 1953, came into force as soon as it was passed in May, but they were slow to take effect. In fact, their complete significance is still to be felt. The Act also extended the empire of the Licensing Authorities to cover the road goods vehicles of the British Transport Cornmission, although very few of those vehicles had been licensed by September, 1953. The reports note this point, briefly as ever, and in the tables of vehicles and operators that show the position at the end of 1953, whisper in small type that B.T.C. vehicles are included. This explains the remarkable jump in the number of A-licensed vehicles from 40,381 to 90,813 in 12 months.
It is to be hoped that future reports will be -less inhibited by modesty. The B.T.C. have at least kept us informed about the process of nationalization. We know ' what vehicles were taken over and a good deal about, the use to which they were put. The Disposal Board may ultimately be more forthcoming than at present and give more details• about denationalization.
Complicated Process
There will be intense interest in the ultimate fate of the units returned to free enterprise, and the Licensing Authorities will be in the best position to say what is happening. They not only know who has acquired a unit and the base from which he plans to operate, they must also follow the complicated process by which units or vehicles pass from one operator to another. The Licensing Authorities also know in which areas the B.R.S. are surrendering licences corresponding to the vehicles they sell.
The new licensing provisions in the 1953 Act have still not had a marked effect, and there may be little to report on them. The resumption of licensing control over the whole field of road transport has, however, put the Licensing Authorities in a position from which they can survey supply and demand and decide what new services are needed. Among other things, they must "have regard to the interests of the public generally, including primarily those of persons requiring facilities for transport and secondarily those of persons providing facilities for transport."
One important function of the annual reports should be to demonstrate how these interests have been served. Those sections of the reports that are published do not serve this function. They cover reasonably adequately the enforcement work of the authorities and the steps taken to check and improve the quality of maintenance of vehicles. They do not readily yield any information about the work operators are doing, and how that work differs from what was being done a year previously.
It may be that the full reports, as they are received by the Minister, contain this sort of information. If so, its omission from the printed summary is an indirect censorship that no longer seems necessary. The Licensing Authorities and their staffs have an accumulated knowledge of the traffic situation in their areas that might be found of value to the Government, to trade and industry, and to vehicle operators whether hauliers or C-licence holders.