Catalogue description Industrial Reorganisation Corporation: Registered Files (IRC Series)

In January 1966 the then Labour Government published a White Paper (Cmnd 2889) Industrial Reorganisation Corporation proposing the creation of an Industrial Reorganisation Corporation (IRC) "to search for opportunities to promote rationalisation schemes which could yield substantial benefits to the national economy". Later that year the IRC was brought into being by the Industrial Reorganisation Corporation Act 1966.

The IRC was organised on business lines and had the status of an independent statutory corporation outside the civil service. It was under the direction of a Board headed by a Chairman, with a full-time Managing Director and composed of senior businessmen, an academic from the Manchester Business School and a prominent trade unionist. The Corporation's small staff were drawn almost entirely from the private sector.

Ministerial responsibility for the IRC initially rested with the Secretary of State for Economic Affairs, but was transferred to the Minister of Technology when the Department of Economic Affairs was abolished in 1969. The IRC Act empowered the Minister to give "directions of a general character" to the Corporation regarding the performance of its functions, but he could not interfere in its day-to-day decision making.

The Conservative victory in the 1970 General Election led to a review of the IRC's role and it was abolished by the Industry Act 1971, which transferred its residual property, rights and liabilities to the Department of Trade and Industry.

The IRC's main function was to promote the efficiency and international competitiveness of British industry by encouraging firms to merge into larger units where this was judged to be in the national interest. Particular emphasis was placed on the scope for improvement in the balance of payments and/or alleviation of regional unemployment.

The IRC had no compulsory powers, but worked towards its objectives by a variety of measures including advice and encouragement, loans on realistic terms and equity participation. The IRC Act made provision for the Corporation to provide financial assistance to firms which were not involved in merger negotiations, but only at the request of the Minister: this power was exercised on only seven occasions during the IRC's five year life-span. The IRC had access to a revolving credit of £150 million from the Exchequer to its activities.