The Chancellor, Roy Jenkins, wanted the text to include a statement to the effect that the low paid should only be entitled to higher pay to give then ‘reasonable’ standards.
[4] Locke and Castle went through what had been agreed over the weekend, and the paper ‘sailed’ through Cabinet on Monday 8 December.
The report noted that the majority of workers in the industry had not, between 1964 and 1969, been adequately compensated for changes to working conditions.
[13] The Robens Report had noted the humanitarian cost – 1,000 fatalities and half a million injuries a year[14] – of the existing "bloated, fragmented, reactive and overly prescriptive system".
[15] Robens believed the role of the state was to facilitate good practice, establishing and strengthening the arrangements through which self-regulation could thrive.
From 1972 to 1974 Locke was involved in a "prolonged and intensive period of interdepartmental consultation" on the new arrangements; as the Secretary of State for Employment, Michael Foot, said: "what that means is that there was a first-class Whitehall row",[16] as Departments resisted the transfer of their health and safety functions to a new quasi-independent authority.
[19] The Health and Safety Commission (HSC) developed health and safety policy: it was a tripartite organisation incorporating the interests of employees, employers and the public; realised through trade unions, employers organisations, and local authorities and professional bodies.
Act by publishing papers,[21] giving lectures,[22] and contributing to contemporary debates on safety issues[23][24][25] and health concerns.
Michael Foot, then Leader of the Opposition, paid tribute to him in Parliament, saying: "John Locke was one of the great civil servants, and without his inspiration and drive we would not have been able to establish the [Health and Safety] Commission in that way.
[27] David Eves, a Deputy director-general of the HSE, commented on John Locke’s character: “John Locke was a clever and determined senior civil servant with a reputation for ruthlessness; inevitably he made enemies in Whitehall as he wore down Departmental opposition and drew the Executive’s resources together.”[28] In addition to HM Factory Inspectorate, the staff of several inspectorates transferred to HSE in 1975.
“Rimington set about mending fences that Locke had forced down in Whitehall when gathering the various Departmental Inspectorates together under the Executive’s wing”.
[28] His successor as director-general, John Rimington, said that Locke was the first official to realise the importance of the professionalisation of occupational safety and health and "put his effort where his mouth was in helping, playing a leading part ... in the development of the framework for professional testing and examination".
[5] Three years after retiring he accepted the unpaid chairmanship of the National Examination Board in Occupational Safety and Health until September 1993.
His dress style – Mao-style tunics, kaftans and mauve suits – sometimes amused or disconcerted conservative civil servants and business leaders.
[33] His address in 1948 was 73 Philbeach Gardens, Earls Court London; then 4 Old Palace Terrace, Richmond, Surrey; and Box Trees, 8 Sea Road, East Preston, Sussex, BN16 1JP.