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which thereby constitute one of the component parts of the Government organisation for the administration of civil aviation. The relationship with these, being mainly of a technical character, presents a somewhat different problem from that of the relationship with other departments of State. 20. The meteorological services for both civil aviation and the Royal New Zealand Air Force are provided by the Meteorological branch of the Air Department, under the Director of Meteorological Services. This arrangement is usual, and calls for no major change. It is recognised universally to be essential that the Meteorological department or office should have a separate entity because of the specialised nature of its work and because of its responsibilities in relation to a large number of activities and organisations. It is common practice to associate the Meteorological office with the department responsible for civil aviation and the Air Force, under the banner of the major department of State responsible for one of these organisations, because the major demand for meteorological services in these modern days is for the service of aviation. We would only suggest that, if Government see fit to adopt our suggestion that the Directorate of Civil Aviation should be given semi-autonomous status attached to the Air Department, it may be found desirable to take similar action in regard to what is now the Meteorological branch of the Air Department. 21. The administration of civil aviation involves increasingly large civil engineering services in the construction of aerodromes and buildings. We foresee that this activity will grow in magnitude and importance with the increasingly direct responsibility of Government for the construction and maintenance of aerodromes which was assumed during the war and which will continue to grow if New Zealand aviation is to have the aerodromes it needs. In some countries where the programme of aerodrome construction and maintenance has reached a large scale, a separate works (or civil engineering) organisation has been established for the planning and execution of civil aviation works. This is the case in the United Kingdom, in Canada, and in India. In the United Kingdom the Civil Aviation Works Department is a detached wing of the Air Ministry Works Department. In India it is a detached wing of the Central Public Works Department. This arrangement ensures that the Works Department devotes its whole attention to civil aviation problems and works under the direct guidance of the Civil Aviation Administration, while it remains a part of the larger engineering organisation for technical engineering control and staff purposes. During the war and its aftermath, when the resources of all countries in materials and labour have to be apportioned, an over-riding control is necessary for this purpose, irrespective of the number of separate works organisations which may be established for different activities.

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