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SECRET
POLICY COMMITTEE
3rd July 1940 .

Present:

D.G.

D.D.G.

D.S.

P.S.

Lord Perth

Sir Kenneth Clark

Mr. Kirkpatrick

Mr. Macadam

Mr. Peake

Mr. Wellington

P.P.S.

Mr. Gates

Mr. Bamford

Lord Davidson

Mr. Beddington

Mr. Vaughan

Mr. Cowan

Mr. Francis

Mr. Maclennan

Mr. Radcliffe

Mr. Lints Smith

Sir Frederick Whyte

Mr. Hodson

Mr. Ryan

Mr. Wiltshire (Secretary)

1. REVIEW OF DIVISIONAL STAFFS

The Director General observed that the volume of work of the Ministry would probably soon be reflecting the world situation. The staff at the Ministry at present stood at the highest figure it had reached since the beginning of the war, and he thought that we must be prepared to consider whether this high figure could be justified. Some Divisions might find it necessary to reduce their staff, other Divisions such as Regional Administrate Division might not find it possible to do so. The Deputy Secretary asked that Directors in reviewing their staff should collaborate with the Establishment side of the Secretariat, whose duty it was to consider the general standard of staffing requirements. He emphasised that Civil Service establishment questions were often somewhat technical. After discussion it was decided that Directors should review their staffs in the light of these remarks and report next week the conclusions to which they had arrived.

2. SUGGESTION FOR FORMATION OF BUREAUX

Mr. Hodson in introducing his paper said that he thought the increasing difficulty of communications made it desirable to consider active measures of decentralisation. The Bureau in Cairo was doing a good deal of distributing work, but the Office was only equipped for dealing with local requirements and was overstrained in attempting to produce propaganda for the Balkans, etc. Moreover, there were many other developments such as films which required a considerable organisation. He thought generally that we might consider working up offices in the Dominions, e.g. attaching Press Attachés to the United Kingdom High Commissioner. First in order of importance seemed to be Canada, and Sir Frederick Whyte confirmed that an office in Ottawa would be of assistance from the point of view of the U.S.A. The point was raised whether in view of possible developments it would not be better to locate an office at Capetown rather than Cairo, but it was thought that the Cairo Office should be kept on unless we were forced to abandon it. The Committee agreed in principle to Mr. Hodson's paper, and Mr. Hodson was requested to discuss with Mr. Kirkpatrick the respective merits of Cairo and Capetown and to explore the best method of approach to the Dominions, in particular Canada.

3. L.D.V .

Mr. Peake referred to the activities of the office L.D.V. and said that he and other Directors felt that L.D.V. duties were making an extensive demand on his staff; he thought that the time had come to obtain assistance from the military. The Director General asked Mr. Bamford to take up the question of relief.

4. WINDOW DISPLAYS

Mr. Francis reported that the shop window display scheme for photographs was progressing, but there was the feeling that a charge of £1 a fortnight to the shops was unfortunate. Sir Kenneth Clark thought we should give the photographs. He pointed out that not only were we affecting the morale of the people but also securing the good will of a very large number of shopkeepers. The difficulties of giving away large quantities of photographs were pointed out, but it was suggested that we might form “lending libraries” and re-issue the photographs. If they were given away there was a danger that there would be a very large demand and that they would not be properly used. It was suggested that the Regional organisation should be asked to keep an eye on this matter. It was agreed in principle that the photographs should be issued without charge. It was agreed to ask shopkeepers to supply a photograph of their display so that a check could be kept on the use to which the photographs were put.