Ministry of Aviation and Ministry of Technology: Air A Division, Air A4 Branch and...

AVIA 97

1964-1967

This series contains records of the Committee of Inquiry into the Aircraft Industry, 1964-1965 (the Plowden Committee), produced by the Secretariat of the Plowden Committee, and the successor branches in Air A Division and later Air C Division. Included are minutes, papers and evidence submitted as well as files referring to the setting up of the committee and the implementation of its report.

Many of the files in this series were originally raised in the AA file series, and were later re-registered in the BM serieswhich was raised following the establishment of the Air A4 Branch in December 1965.

For files in the BM series which were later re-registered in the XN series, containing the files in that series produced by the Air C Division (and successors) of Mintech (and successor departments), see the series

FV 17

BM file series

Public Record(s)

English

32 file(s)

Retained by department unless otherwise stated

Topics

Air transport

The Inquiry into the Aircraft Industry (The Plowden Committee) was appointed on the 9th December 1964 to consider what should be the future place and organisation of the aircraft industry in relation to the general economy of the country, taking into account the demands of national defence, export prospects, the comparable industries of other countries, and the relationship of the industry with government activities in the aviation field; and to make recommendations on any steps and measures necessary.

A secretariat for the Plowden Committee had been established within the Air A Division of the Ministry of Aviation, led by an Assistant Secretary who had until then headed the Air A1 Branch of the division. One of the recommendations of the Plowden Report, which had been published in December 1965, was that the Government should undertake an early review of the future of the Ministry of Aviation. The implementation of this recommendation took the form of the dissolution of the Ministry of Aviation in 1967.

In March 1966, the duties of the Air A4 Branch of the Air A Division of the Ministry of Aviation were described as being the coordination of action within the ministry following the Report of the Committee of Inquiry into the Aircraft Industry (Cmnd 2853, 1965-1966) (Plowden Report), and responsibility for any matters arising from the report which had not been allocated to other branches.