Catalogue description Board of Trade: Solicitor's Department: Industry and Investment Grant Files

This series contains a selection of files of the Board of Trade Solicitor's Department.

This department provided legal advice to two Board of Trade divisions: advice on industry matters to the Industries Division and advice on investment grant matters to General Division and later Investment Grants Division. The earlier papers relate to the Industrial Organisation and Development Act 1947 and the setting up of development councils for specific industries such as clothing and cotton. The files on investment grants contain legal opinions and details of ministerial meetings, highlighting conflicts which arose as a result of the grants of the Industrial Development Act 1966, particularly in the aluminium smelting industry. Other files deal with legislation such as the Iron and Steel Bill and the Industrial Development (Ships) Bill 1970.

It is likely that the files were originally unregistered folders which were registered at a later date. This may have been at the time when the files passed into the custody of Mintech, probably in 1970, although the files do not appear to have been added to by the ministry. One would expect to find much of the legal advice and opinions contained on these files, on the appropriate Division's policy files. However, cross checks indicate that many of these files have not survived.

For other records dealing with investment grants see:

BT 278

BT 321

BT 322

BT 323

BT 324

BT 327

Board of Trade, Solicitors Department, 1887-1970