Department details

Responsibility for the environment in UK government has historically been divided between many different bodies, spanning as it has the administration of woods and forests, land tenure, town and country planning, housing, transportation, pollution and waste control, as well as nature conservation, agriculture and other rural affairs. For further information on these topics, please see the Administrative Histories for Agricultural Departments , Countryside Agencies, Forestry Commission, Nature Conservation Departments, and Transport Departments. The administrative history of the Welsh Office covers the department responsible for much of the administration of the environment in Wales.

This administrative history is concerned with the government bodies responsible for policy relating to the natural and built environments.1 Users will be referred to NDAD's other, more specific administrative histories where relevant. This administrative history covers the following bodies:

• Surveyor General of Land Revenues 1625-1810
• Commissioners of Woods, Forests and Land Revenues 1810-1925
• Commissioners of Crown Lands 1925-56
• Ministry of Works and Planning 1942-1943
• Ministry of Town and Country Planning 1943-1967
• Ministry of Works 1943-1963
• Ministry of Public Building and Works 1963-1970
• Ministry of Land and Natural Resources 1964-1967
• Ministry of Housing and Local Government 1951-1970
• Department of the Environment 1970-1997
• Department of Environment, Transport and the Regions 1997-2001
• Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 2001-
• Department for Transport, Local Government and the Regions 2001-2002
• Office of the Deputy Prime Minister 2002-

1625 - 1942

There was no direct responsibility undertaken for the administration of environmental matters until in 1625, when a Surveyor General of Land Revenues was appointed, responsible for the valuation and maintenance of tenanted land together with the auditors of Land Revenues. Acts of Parliaments during this time such as the Game Laws and the Enclosure Acts variously conferred environmental protection or served to exploit the woods' timber resources. Since 1760, all revenues from Crown lands have been diverted to the treasury. In 1810 the office of the Surveyor General was merged with the Department of Woods and Forests to become the Department of Woods, Forests and Land Revenues. A further merger with the Office of Works occurred in 1832, when a new office for the administration of Land Revenue Records and Enrolments was formed. One of the department's three commissioners was given separate responsibility for Works (public buildings and royal estates) in 1851. By 1925, most Crown woods and forests had been transferred to the Forestry Commission, and the two remaining ministers were renamed the Commissioners of Crown Lands.

1942 - 1965

The Ministry of Works and Planning, established in 1942, had the primary functions of co-ordinating the government's building programme and post-war reconstruction of the country. Responsibility was devolved from the Ministry of Health whose Planning Division had previously had control of overall planning policy. The Scottish Office retained control of Scottish planning. Due to differences between the Ministry's post-war Reconstruction Group's members, in 1943 two new Ministries were formed, the Ministry of Town and Country Planning (MTCP) and the Ministry of Works. The Town and Country Planning (Interim Development) Act of 1943 bestowed developmental planning control for England and Wales to the MTCP which became the first central planning authority. Divisions within the Ministry were responsible for urban planning in different regions of the UK. In 1951 the Ministry of Housing and Local Government was created and took over the planning divisions of the MTCP.

1965 - 1970

In 1965 the responsibility for rural planning passed to the Ministry of Land and Natural Resources. This department had been created a year earlier upon the succession of the Labour government. Responsibility for conservation and rural affairs had been previously held by the Ministry of Housing and Local Government; the new department absorbed this function together with administration of parkland and allotments, water resources and forestry from the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food. Responsibility for the Ordnance Survey was also passed to the new Land Ministry. Divisions of the Ministry were established to cover many different functions: "forestry; tree preservation and national parks; planning of water and natural resources; land use; Land Commission (policy); Land Commission (planning); legal; establishment and finance; press and information".2 After only two years, responsibility for all of the above reverted to the Ministry of Housing and Local Government, except the Forestry Commission which was returned to MAFF, and responsibility for functions in Wales which went to the Welsh Office.

In 1963 the Ministry of Works had been expanded and renamed the Ministry of Public Building and Works, having control of public building programmes. But by 1967 responsibility for both urban and rural planning rested with the Ministry of Housing and Local Government, which established at least seven different divisions with planning functions ranging from New Towns to Countryside. A Secretary of State for Local Government and Regional Planning was appointed in 1969.

1970 - 1997

The first dedicated Department of the Environment (DoE) was set up in 1970 by the incoming Labour government. Three existing departments merged to create it: the Ministries of Housing and Local Government, Public Building and Works, and Transport. Overall control of policy and budget rested with the Secretary of State for the Environment, whose appointment was created together with those of three junior ministers. These were responsible for, respectively, planning, local government and the countryside; housing and development; and transport industries. The Cabinet Office's Central Unit for Pollution Control was also taken over by the DoE. In 1974 a junior minister charged with the administration of sport and recreation was appointed in addition to the three existing ministers. In 1973 responsibility for nature conservation was transferred to the DoE from the Department of Education and Science. In 1976 the transport functions of the department were removed to the new Department of Transport (though some functions continued to be jointly managed by both departments) and during the consequent restructure two ministerial offices were abolished; that of the minister for transport industries went to the new department, and responsibility for planning and local government was transferred to the new Minister for Housing and Construction.

The DoE appointed a director general of research whose remit included the administration of governmental research institutes such as the Road Research Laboratory, the Water Pollution Research Laboratory, the Fire Research Station, the Hydraulics Research Station and the Forest Products Research Station, and the supervision of Non Government Organisation (NGO) research associations.

The next twenty years passed with the DoE retaining overall control of rural and urban planning strategy and preservation with the exception of heritage sites, responsibility for which was passed to the Historic Buildings and Ancient Monuments Commission in 1984. An increased number of agencies with specialist powers came under the DoE's supervision. In 1997 the DoE was reunited with the Department of Transport to form the new Department for the Environment, Transport and the Regions (DETR).

1997 - present

The DETR had responsibility for the following areas: environmental protection; roads; planning; local transport; housing; construction; regeneration; the countryside; railways; aviation; shipping and local and regional government. It included eight executive agencies which administered transport and planning matters. It was represented by the Secretary of State and beneath him, the Minister for Transport and three Ministers of State. Under ministerial control were the following groups of directorates: Environment Protection; Local Government; Housing, Construction, Regeneration and Countryside; Planning, Roads and Local Transport; Railways, Aviation and Shipping; and Strategy and Corporate Services.

• the Operation and Service Delivery Directorate, responsible for corporate services, e-business, communications and rural development;
• the Solicitor and Legal Services General Directorate, responsible for legal aspects of the departments administrative work on topics raning from animal health, farming and PFI;
• the Food, Farming and Fisheries Directorate General, responsible for fisheries, agriculture, the food industry, the EU, economics and statistics (including data gathering exercises);
• the Environmental Protection Directorate General, responsible for energy, waste, water and land strategy and atmosphere;
• the Chief Veterinary Officer and Animal Health and Welfare Directorate General;
• the Land Use and Rural Economies Directorate General, responsible for land management, rural economies, and the countryside.

The official description of the DEFRA's administrative functions reflect the dedicated 'green' environmental policy of the department. Under Margaret Beckett, Secretary of State since 2001, DEFRA is a department whose primary functions are "sustainable development, environmental protection and the renewal of rural areas including the future of the farming industry". 3

The DTLR consisted of a Secretary of State supported by three ministers, including the Minister for Transport and two Ministers of State, one in charge of local government and the regions and another responsible for housing, planning and regeneration. Nine executive agencies contributed to the co-ordination of policy on the following topics: housing, construction, regeneration and the countryside; local and regional government; planning, roads and local transport, railways, aviation and shipping. 4

• Directorate of Communication
• Central Strategy and Resources Directorate
• Housing, Homelessness, Urban Policy and Planning Group
• Local and Regional Government Group
• Neighbourhood Renewal Unit
• Regional Co-ordination Unit
• Social Exclusion Unit

The stated objectives of the ODPM in 2003 are as follows: to "work with the full range of Government Departments and policies to raise the levels of social inclusion, neighbourhood renewal and regional prosperity; provide for effective devolved decision making within a framework of national targets and policies; deliver effective programmes to help raise the quality of life for all in urban areas and other communities". 5

Department of Environment, Food and Rural affairs.

Land Use and Rural Economies Directorate: Wildlife and Countryside Directorate.

This Directorate is responsible for advice on policy for the protection and enhancement of the landscape as well as countryside and wildlife in England. It is also responsible for management and conservation of the countryside as well as the conservation of wildlife in accordance with EU and international commitments. It is involved in the international protection of wildlife and the enforcement of legislation protecting the countryside. It has responsibility for policy regarding flooding and coastal erosion. It is divided into the following divisions: Countryside (Recreation and Landscape); European Wildlife Division; Global Wildlife Division; Flood Management Division.

The Directorate sponsors various research programmes which inform directorate policy. These research programs include those concerning biodiversity; site and species protection countryside (recreation and landscape); endangered species and cross-cutting scientific Issues.

Property Services Agency and its successors

In 1972 a new Property Services Agency (PSA) was set up within the Department of the Environment to provide other government departments with property management services, building construction and maintenance and appropriate supplies. The agency was to be a 'hived off' accountable unit within the department with its own trading fund.

PSA began operating on 1 September 1972 and was headed by a Chief Executive of Permanent Secretary status reporting directly to the Secretary of State for the Environment. Inclusion within the department was designed to ensure that government practice as a builder and developer remained in accord with national policies of conservation and improvement of the environment.

The new organisation was designed to tighten up property management to ensure the best possible use of land and to that end the Defence Lands organisation of the Ministry of Defence was incorporated into the agency. The agency also had a network of regional offices, known as the United Kingdom Territorial Organisation (UKTO).

In 1976 the Property Services Agency (PSA) Supplies Division was established as a trading fund. It was renamed The Crown Suppliers (TCS) in 1984. Government departments were fully 'untied' from TCS in 1987 and could shop around for goods and services. The intention to privatise TCS was formally announced in February 1988.

PSA was restructured in April 1990 when it was grouped within a new organisation, Property Holdings, which was to be an organisational unit within the Department of the Environment.

Property Holdings took over the portfolio management (buying and selling) of the Civil Estate from PSA. PSA continued as PSA Services, assuming financial responsibility for the maintenance of central government property. Property Holdings was abolished in 1995 and its functions were continued by individual government departments.

A direct successor of Property Holdings, the Property Advisers to the Civil Estate (PACE), was established in 1996 as an executive agency of the Cabinet Office. It provided central property guidance to government departments and supplied details of a range of property-related client services.

In 1999 following a review of civil procurement in central government the Office of Government Commerce (OGC) was established. OGC was created by amalgamating a number of separate executive agencies including PACE. PACE's successor body within OGC is now called the Property and Construction Directorate.6

The Countryside Information System (CIS) is a windows based system which contains habitat and landscape information, a wide range of environmental data, including landscape features, vegetation habitats and topography for each one kilometre square of the United Kingdom. It organises and presents information about the United Kingdom (UK) which can be linked to kilometre resolution grid references and stored, manipulated and presented in graphical and tabular format. The Ordnance Survey and Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland grid reference systems means that CIS runs in two modes, one to describe Great Britain (GB), the other Northern Ireland (NI). Both modes are components of the standard system. See the Series Catalogue for further details.

The Deeds Registry Application dataset was transferred to NDAD by the Office of Government Commerce (OGC) although it was created for the Deeds Office of the Property Advisers to the Civil Estate (PACE) an Executive Agency that became part of OGC when it was formed in 1999. The Deeds Registry Application was used by PACE to record details of title deeds relating to the Common User Estate. This was largely property that provided general office accommodation which could be used by any government department. The data relating to these deeds was held as a component of PACE's main PISCES database. See the Series Catalogue for further details.

The 1991 English House Condition Survey is one of a series of surveys undertaken on behalf of the Transport Departments. The 1991 Survey was undertaken for the Department of the Environment (DoE) and was the sixth in a quinquennial series. The English House Condition Surveys provide the Department with a major source of information to assist in the development and monitoring of policies directed towards the repair and improvement of housing stock. See the Sub-series Catalogue for further details.

The National Archives holds records of the various bodies outlined in this history in series with the references AT, HLG, SH and WORK.

Further information on the work of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs can be found on the DEFRA website. The DEFRA Helpline can be contacted by telephone on 0645 33 55 77; by electronic mail on helpline@defra.gsi.gov.uk; or by post at: DEFRA Helpline, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, 3-8 Whitehall Place, London SW1A 2HH.

Further information on the work of the Office of Government Commerce can be found on the OGC website. The OGC Service Desk can be contacted by telephone on 0845 000 4999 or email: servicedesk@ogc.gsi.gov.uk; OGC's postal address is Office of Government Commerce, Rosebery Court, St Andrew's Business Park, Norwich, Norfolk, NR7 0HS

1. Sources used to compile this administrative history can be seen below.

• The Organisation of Central Government Departments: A history 1964-1992 database (http://www.nuff.ox.ac.uk/Politics/Whitehall/), "Department of the Environment" sections including Origins (http://www.nuff.ox.ac.uk/Politics/Whitehall/FunctionDescription.asp?DescID=415/1/1) and History and Functions (http://www.nuff.ox.ac.uk/Politics/Whitehall/FunctionDescription.asp?DescID=415/1/2), consulted on 29th May 2003.
• The National Archives website, online catalogue (http://catalogue.pro.gov.uk), administrative histories of Planning Departments, Environment Departments, the Crown Estate and the Ministry of Land and Natural Resources, consulted on 27 June 2003.

2. The National Archives website, online catalogue (http://catalogue.pro.gov.uk), administrative history of the Ministry of Land and Natural Resources, consulted on 27 June 2003.

3. Cabinet Office, The 38th Civil Service Yearbook 2002, (London: TSO), 2002, p.141.

4. Cabinet Office, The 36th Civil Service Yearbook, (London: HMSO), 2001, p. 283.

5. Cabinet Office, The 39th Civil Service Yearbook, (London: TSO, 2003), p.109.

6. Administrative history of PSA from TNA's online catalogue, PROCAT (http://catalogue.pro.gov.uk), consulted on 8 October 2003; information supplied in emails between TNA and NDAD on 8 April 2002; OGC web site (http://www.ogc.gov.uk), consulted on 15 October 2003.