Catalogue description Records of the Office of the Secretary of State for Local Government and Regional Planning

In October l969 the work of the Ministries of Housing and Local Government, Transport and Public Building and Works were put under the general co-ordinating direction of a Secretary of State for Local Government and Regional Planning, who was also charged with the preparations for local government reform following the recommendations of the Royal Commission on Local Government in England, 1966 to 1969. Throughout the existence of the office the Secretary of State was Anthony Crosland.

The Secretary of State also took over from the former Department of Economic Affairs responsibility for the general content of government regional planning policies, together with oversight of the work of the regional planning councils and boards in England. He was assisted by the Minister of State for Local Government and Regional Planning.

He was given special responsibility for all aspects of environmental pollution and was assisted by a Central Unit for Pollution Control in the Cabinet Office. He was asked by the Prime Minister, as a matter of urgency, to submit recommendations for improving the machinery for dealing with pollution problems and following this a standing Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution was appointed in February 1970. Although the Secretary of State's responsibilities in this field were confined to England he had the task of securing co-ordination with the Secretaries of State for Scotland and for Wales, whose responsibilities and statutory functions remained unchanged.

The Office of the Secretary of State had very few staff and drew on the Cabinet Office for most of its common services. In June 1970, on the change of government, the post of Secretary of State lapsed, but it was effectively revived and extended with the appointment the following November of a Secretary of State for the Environment which was formed from the Office of Secretary of State and its related Ministries.This department also took over from the Cabinet Office the Central Unit for Pollution Control.