Catalogue description Ministry of Labour and successors: Training, Registered Files

The first Training Department was created in 1919, out of the Civil Demobilisation Resettlement Department, which had been set up to co-ordinate training schemes for ex-service personnel and civilian war workers. In 1929, the Training Department and the Employment Department combined to form the Training and Employment Department, the emphasis from training the war disabled having changed to training for the unemployed. With this merger, the number of training centres, schemes and remit of the department expanded. Much of the department's work dealt with employment matters relating to juveniles.

At the end of the Second World War II, the department assumed responsibility for a variety of facilities and training schemes to assist the demobilised and the disabled. These were later expanded to other sectors of the working population. In 1973 the Manpower Services Commission was set up to develop a comprehensive manpower strategy for Britain. Its responsibilities included the industrial training boards, planning of training services for industry, and advising the secretary of state on employment matters.