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SUMMARY

I. B.B.C.

(a) B.B.C. administrative and executive grades are at present reserved at 30.

Proposals for retaining existing B.B.C. staff who are either not reserved or are below the age of reservation, to cover expansion, have already been made by the B.B.C. The Ministry of Labour has agreed at our request to stop the calling up of all members of the B. B.C.'s staff whose names are furnished to them until a Committee consisting of:-

which has been set up to consider the matter has reported on the principles to be adopted for the protection of B.B.C. staff on a permanent basis.

The immediate action therefore which is now required in regard to their existing staff, is for the B.B.C. to furnish the necessary particulars to the Ministry of Labour. Action by the Ministry of Information may be necessary at a later date should the report of the Committee fail to meet the B.B.C.'s requirements.

(b) A further increase of about 3000 (excluding engineers) is estimated during the next 18 months or 2 years.

The B.B.C. has not formulated their proposals for obtaining these men. It should be noted that:

(i) retention of their existing staff is covered by (a) above, which does not necessarily exclude the possibility of alteration of the Schedule.

(ii) recruitment of additional staff cannot be effected through the Schedule, which operates for the purpose of protecting existing staff and cannot be used prospectively. Recruitment therefore commonly takes place as follows:-

Engagement of men above or below military age, or passed unfit for military service.

Release of men from the Forces.

Substitution by women.

The engagement of men liable for military service but not yet enlisted could only be effected by means of deferment. Apart from the fact that such men now hardly exist, prospective deferment of this kind is normally refused.

(iii) release from the Forces can be granted on the representation of a Government Department that the men are required for “work of vital national importance”. Men so released are not discharged but are placed on reserve subject to recall at short notice in the event of emergency.

No action appears to be called for on the part of the Ministry until the B.B.C. has formulated their requirements and their proposals for meeting these requirements. But in as much as the above considerations strongly reinforce the case for retaining existing staff, it is desired to know in what terms the existence of this plan may be put to the Ministry of Labour .

II. The Press

As the Ministry had no means of judging the merits of particular applications of deferment of members of the Editorial or Mechanical staffs of newspapers, it was arranged that Mr. Will should act as the Ministry's adviser on such applications. This arrangement was not at first officially recognised by the Ministry of Labour. Subsequently however it was agreed by that Department that the arrangement was a useful one, and whilst ultimately the Ministry of Information is the recommending Department great weight is attached by the Ministry of Labour to Mr. Will's recommendations. A very large number of Press cases have been dealt with, and the arrangement has been of assistance to the Press, the Ministry of Information and the Ministry of Labour, in individual cases and in matters of policy.

Mr. Will's policy has always been based on the necessity for preserving the efficiency of the Press in War Time. In this he includes the periodical press, and he lays particular stress on the importance of the provincial weekly newspapers. In dealing with the Ministry of Labour on questions of reservation and deferment the Ministry of Information has supported this view.

There are at present three matters of importance in which the Ministry and the Press are concerned.

A. Reservation of Editorial Staff of Newspapers, periodicals and new agencies

It was proposed some months ago to raise the age of reservation of this occupation from 30 to 35. As the result of representations made by the Ministry and the Press this proposal was rejected. The reasons put forward by the Ministry included:-

Depletion of staff and impossibility of substitution of remaining staff.

Demand for war correspondents, and increased demands on reporting staff.

Emergency schemes affecting both National and provincial press.

Importance of provincial press for morale reasons.

It is understood that the proposal is likely to be revived in the near future. It is suggested that the Ministry's reasons for opposing it have now even greater force, and that the effect of raising the age would be so serious that strong intervention may be necessary.

B. Printing Staff of Newspapers

The raising of the age of reservation of occupations in the printing trade from 30 to 35 on November 1st has created a very difficult position in the case of the provincial press, and has resulted in a large number of applications for deferment of men between 30 to 35 employed by provincial newspaper publishing firms. Some 300 have been received up to date from some 130 firms.

The Ministry did not oppose the raising of the age of reservation of these occupations as it involved the whole of the printing trade. Both the Ministry and the Newspaper Society however pointed out that it would have a serious effect on the provincial press and would involve a large increase in the number of applications for deferment.

The Ministry has arranged:

(a) that the Ministry of Labour should stop calling up in these cases pending consideration by a Committee set up by Mr. Will in conjunction with the Newspaper Society to scrutinise the applications and make recommendations.

No action is required at present. Should however the final decision of the Ministry of Labour in these cases be an adverse one, or fail to satisfy the Ministry and the Committee, there may be grounds for strong intervention .

C. Press Photographers

The occupation “Press Photographer” does not appear in the Schedule of “Reserved Occupations”. The Ministry and the Press hold the view that this is because they were intended to be included under Editorial Staff of Newspapers periodicals and news agencies. The Press holds that they are “Camera Reporters” 237 - 5 -and therefore, like Reporters, members of the Editorial Staff. The journalists' Committee of the Central Register has recognised this and they are accepted for membership of the Institute of Journalists and the N.U.J.

The Ministry of Labour now maintain that they are included in the occupation “Camera Operator (still)” which with that of “Photographer” (commercial, portrait) figures in the Schedule with Camera Operators (cinematograph) and other occupations relating to cinematography. The description is an absurd one to apply to Press photographers and properly applies to still photographers who work in Film Studios.

The point, recently assumed importance as the age of reservation of the occupation “Camera operator (still)” which was previously 30, was raised to 35, and the Press discovered that Press Photographers were not classified as members of Editorial Staffs.

Press photographers may be divided into four classes:-

“(a) First class men chiefly on the staffs of Agencies, leading Nationals and Provincial Dailies.

(b) Second class men working for the same people.

(c) Men on the staff of provincial weeklies.

(d) Freelancers”.

The Ministry is primarily interested in (a) and (d). In particular Photographers employed by the News Photographic Agencies and a certain number of the best Freelancers are of vital importance. The raising of the age of reservation made it obvious that unless steps were taken to ensure the retention of men over 30 the stream of photographs to the Press overseas direct from the Agencies or through the Ministry would cease. The agencies themselves were equally concerned over the position. The Agencies accordingly, with the backing of the Ministry submitted a claim through the Ministry of Labour to the Schedule Committee, that

(a) News Photographic Agencies were News Agencies and their Editorial staff should be included in the Schedule as such -

(b) Photographers employed by News Photographic Agencies were Editorial staff.

There has been prolonged discussion with the Ministry of Labour about (a) and we had some reason to think that this claim would be conceded. In a further discussion about (a) and (b) it became clear that the Ministry of Labour were opposed to both claims. It was also clear, that they had no knowledge of the occupation “Press Photographer”. The case was presented to 238 - 6 -the Schedule Committee with a recommendation that it should be rejected and it was rejected. The Committee ruled, in answer to a question, that the general principle that Press Photographers were members of the Editorial Staff was also rejected.

It should be noted here that The Times, Daily Sketch and Daily Mirror all run services which make the Art Departments of those papers, in fact, Agencies.

The Schedule Committee recommended that “in urgent cases deferment should be given to the men concerned whilst substitutes are being trained to replace them”. In our view, which is supported by the Agencies, and has been explained to the Ministry of Labour, substitution by women is entirely impracticable in the case of photographers employed by the Agencies.

This is also true of Press Photographers generally (except possibly in the case of the provincial press).

If we are to rely on deferment there is a danger that

“(a) Ministry of Labour decisions may be adverse or insufficient in the cases which we regard as essential. This has proved to be the case in the past.

(b) The National Dailies will lose a proportion of their younger men and will, through their superior financial position draw away the best men from the Agencies.

It is suggested therefore that the Ministry should write officially to the Ministry of Labour, restating the claim for inclusion of Press Photographers as Editorial Staff, stating that this claim has been rejected by the Schedule Committee, in their opinion without adequate reason, and pressing for immediate reconsideration.

III. Films

The Ministry of Labour has by agreement with the Ministry of Information and Board of Trade set up a Film Trade Committee to which all applications for deferment on men engaged in the industry are referred. There are no matters arising which call for special consideration at the present time.

E.H.T.W.

6th January 1941