In the case of Industrial Councils the object is to promote the general welfare of all engaged in the trade and to increase productive efficiency, as well as to secure fair terms between the parties and prevent disputes.

If such a Council has been established for any industry Government Departments will consult it, and not the Trade Board, on any questions affecting that industry; but the constitution of the Council should make provision by which Trade Boards can be consulted.

Roughly speaking, "the functions of the Trade Board will be called into operation mainly in the case of the less organised trades, and the highly organised trades will be the sphere of the Industrial Councils." These, in their most developed form, will be national, district, and local.
A memorandum which has official sanction states that the chief duty of the Trade Boards, on the other hand, is to fix minimum rates of wages which can be imposed by law.

They are needed primarily to insure that in trades where the workers have no official organisation to guard their interest a living wage shall be secured for all.

They are statutory bodies set up under an Act of Parliament just passed, and will be connected with the Ministry of Labour, by which their members are largely nominated.