Home Office - History

History

On 27 March 1782, the Home Office was formed by renaming the existing Southern Department, with all existing staff transferring. On the same day, the Northern Department was renamed the Foreign Office.

To match the new names, there was a transferring of responsibilities between the two Departments of State. All domestic responsibilities were moved to the Home Office, and all foreign matters became the concern of the Foreign Office.

Most subsequently created domestic departments (excluding, for instance, those dealing with education) have been formed by splitting responsibilities away from the Home Office.

The initial responsibilities were:

• Answering petitions and addresses sent to the King
• Advising the King on
  • Royal grants
  • Warrants and commissions
  • The exercise of Royal Prerogative
• Issuing instructions on behalf of the King to officers of the Crown, Lords Lieutenant and magistrates, mainly concerning law and order
• Operation of the secret service within the UK
• Protecting the public
• Safeguarding the rights and liberties of individuals

Responsibilities were subsequently changed over the years that followed:

• 1793 added: regulation of aliens
• 1794 removed: control of military forces (to Secretary of State for War)
• 1801 removed: colonial business (to Secretary of State for War and the Colonies)
• 1804 removed: Barbary State consuls (to Secretary of State for War and the Colonies)
• 1823 added: prisons
• 1829 added: police services
• 1836 added: registration of births, deaths and marriages in England and Wales
• 1844 added: naturalisation
• 1845 added: registration of Friendly Societies
• 1855 removed: yeomanries and militias (to War Office)
• 1858 added: local boards of health
• 1871 removed: local boards of health (to Local Government Board)
• 1871 removed: registration of births, deaths and marriages (to Local Government Board)
• 1872 removed: highways and turnpikes (to Local Government Board)
• 1875 added: control of explosives
• 1875 removed: registration of Friendly Societies (to Treasury)
• 1885 removed: Scotland (to Secretary for Scotland and the Scottish Office)
• 1886 removed: fishing (to Board of Trade)
• 1889 removed: Land Commissioners (to Board of Agriculture)
• 1900 removed: matters relating to burial grounds (to Local Government Board)
• 1905 removed: public housing (to Local Government Board)
• 1914 added: dangerous drugs
• 1919 removed: aircraft and air traffic (to Air Ministry)
• 1919 removed: use of human bodies in medical training (to Ministry of Health)
• 1919 removed: infant and child care (to Ministry of Health)
• 1919 removed: lunacy and mental health (to Ministry of Health)
• 1919 removed: health and safety (to Ministry of Health)
• 1920 added: firearms
• 1920 removed: Representation of Britain abroad in labour matters (to Ministry of Labour)
• 1920 removed: mining (to Mines Department)
• 1921 added: elections (from the Ministry of Health)
• 1922 removed: relations with Irish Free State (to Colonial Office)
• 1923 removed: Order of the British Empire (to Treasury)
• 1925 removed: registration of trade unions (to Ministry of Labour)
• 1931 removed: county councils (to Ministry of Health)
• 1933 added: poisons
• 1934 removed: metropolitan boroughs (to Ministry of Health)
• 1937 removed: road accident returns (to Ministry of Transport)
• 1938 added: fire services
• 1938 removed: Imperial Service Order and medal (to Treasury)
• 1940 removed: factory inspections (to Ministry of Labour)
• 1945 removed: workmen's compensation scheme (to Ministry of National Insurance)
• 1947 added: infant and child care (from Ministry of Health)
• 1947 removed: regulation of advertisements (to Ministry of Town and Country Planning)
• 1947 removed: burial fees (to Ministry of Health)
• 1947 removed: registration of Building Societies (to Treasury)
• 1948 removed: Broadmoor hospital (to Lunacy Board of Control)
• 1950 removed: structural precautions for civil defence (to Ministry of Works)
• 1950 removed: minor judicial appointments (to Lord Chancellor)
• 1953 removed: slaughterhouses (to Ministry of Housing and Local Government)
• 1954 removed: markets (to Ministry of Housing and Local Government)
• 1956 removed: railway accidents (to Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation)
• 1969 removed: reservoirs (to Ministry of Housing and Local Government)
• 1971 removed: child care in England (to Department of Health and Social Security)
• 1971 removed: child care in Wales (to Welsh Office)
• 1972 removed: Northern Ireland (to Northern Ireland Office)
• 1973 removed: adoption (to Department of Health and Social Security)
• 1992 removed: broadcasting and sport (to the new Department of National Heritage - later the Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
• 2007 removed: criminal justice, prisons & probation and legal affairs (to new Ministry of Justice)
• 2007 added: counter-terrorism strategy (from the Cabinet Office)

The Home Office retains a variety of functions that have not found a home elsewhere, and sit oddly with the main law-and-order focus of the department, such as regulation of British Summer Time.