ABSTRACT
Public accountability of the public corporations, canalized through ministers to Parliament, is the main way in which full control is retained over the nationalized industries. Whereas parliamentary control is more theoretical than actual, ministerial control is in practice more real than is publicly admitted. Parliamentary control is confined to Parliamentary questions on policy and matters of "public importance", and to occasional debate. Possibly ministers have here gone to the extreme limit, and a more generous interpretation of the section might be more in conformity with Parliamentary intention and public interest. It is this avoidance of use of the directional power that enables ministers to escape Parliamentary responsibility. The Minister has the right of obtaining any information he may require at any time from the boards. In practice, the nationalized industries have published, both in their annual reports and periodic statistical publications, a tremendous amount of detail.
