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47. There is a tendency in the post-war organisation of civil aviation administrations to create special branches to deal with Planning and Air Safety. In our view, neither is justified. A Planning Branch can only accomplish its task by covering the activities of all the other branches, without their special knowledge of the problems involved. It introduces overlapping and division of responsibilities. Planning is the responsibility of each Branch, and its co-ordination and direction the responsibility of the Deputy Directors General and the Director General. Ad hoc committees can sometimes assist. Within each Branch there may be a necessity to detail an officer to deal with planning problems at certain times. It may be noted that the Planning Department in the United Kingdom Ministry of Civil Aviation has recently been abolished. Air safety, as a distinct activity, appears to us to rest on a misconception. The whole of the activities of a civil aviation administration are concerned with air safety. What is needed is a systematic co-ordination of the activities of all branches, and this is necessary for nearly every phase of the work. Boards and committees 48. From time to time proposals are pressed for the formation of boards and committees with executive or advisory powers to aid in the development and administration of civil aviation. In general we think that a multiplicity of standing boards and committees tends to clog the machinery of administration. They create a great deal of work, which in itself necessitates additional staff, and they are rarely composed of the people who have executive responsibility. We offer below comments on some of these. In general, we think that the establishment of ad hoc committees for the consideration of specific problems where it is necessary to co-ordinate the requirements and views of the responsible authorities, official and otherwise, is more conducive to quick and satisfactory results. 49. Civil Aviation Board.—A civil aviation board is usually advocated for the purpose of formulating policy and in some cases of making policy decisions. So far as such board is composed of persons having no responsibility for the administration or operation of civil aviation, we do not think it serves any useful purpose. Commerce, industry, and local authorities have other ways in which they can put forward their views. A board composed of representatives of the departments concerned with different aspects of aviation problems and of the operators does not relieve the departments and others of the work involved in formulating policy on development and administration, and the essential