Establishment of The Board
In March 1966 the Standing Joint Committee on Metrication was appointed and on 26 July 1968, when accepting the committee's report, the government announced that:
-
- The target date for the completion of the metrication program was 1975.
- An advisory Metrication Board would be set up.
- Legislation would be passed where necessary.
- There would be no compensation – costs would be borne where they fell.
The Metrication Board was set up with a mandate to "consult, advise, inform, stimulate and coordinate". Its mandate specifically excluded a campaigning role. The board held its first meeting in May 1969 under the chairmanship of Lord Ritchie-Calder when eight committees were set up to deal with the most important sectors of British Industry:,
-
- Agriculture, Forestry, Fisheries and Land
- Distribution, Food and Consumer Goods Industries
- Education and Industrial Training
- Engineering Industries
- Fuel and Power Industries
- Industrial Materials and Construction Industries
- Transport and Communications Industries
- Information Policy
By the time the board was set up, much of the groundwork, especially rewriting of many British Standards using metric units had been done and many of the industries that stood to benefit from metrication had already metricated, or had a metrication program in progress.
Traditionally the British Government had imposed little regulation on British industry – standards were usually defined by the industry itself, often in conjunction with the British Standards Institution. Legislation relating to units of measure were normally directed at trade with industry being allowed to develop its own standards.
After the general election and change of government in 1970, the incoming government announced its intention to continue to "encourage these voluntary developments, including the use of metric specifications for public purposes as soon as consultation with the suppliers shows this to be practicable".
Read more about this topic: Metrication Board
Famous quotes containing the words establishment of the, establishment of and/or board:
“Don’t confuse hypothesis and theory. The former is a possible explanation; the latter, the correct one. The establishment of theory is the very purpose of science.”
—Martin H. Fischer (1879–1962)
“The recent attempt to secure a charter from the State of North Dakota for a lottery company, the pending effort to obtain from the State of Louisiana a renewal of the charter of the Louisiana State Lottery, and the establishment of one or more lottery companies at Mexican towns near our border, have served the good purpose of calling public attention to an evil of vast proportions.”
—Benjamin Harrison (1833–1901)
“Don’t tell me what delusion he entertains regarding God, or what mountebank he follows in politics, or what he springs from, or what he submits to from his wife. Simply tell me how he makes his living. It is the safest and surest of all known tests. A man who gets his board and lodging on this ball in an ignominious way is inevitably an ignominious man.”
—H.L. (Henry Lewis)