Catalogue description Boards, inspectorates and other regulatory bodies

The Central Control Board (Liquor Traffic) was set up under the Defence of the Realm Act (Liquor Control) Regulations by Order in Council of 10 June 1915. In 1916 State management of the liquor trade was introduced in Carlisle and a surrounding area of 320 square miles from Maryport to the border with Scotland. The breweries in this region, together with their retail outlets, and various other licensed and unlicensed properties were compulsorily acquired by the Central Liquor Control Board as a first step in the control of a severe problem of drunkenness in the area.

The Central Control Board was abolished in 1921, and under section 16 of the Licensing Act 1921 responsibility for the Carlisle and District State Management Scheme was transferred to the Home Secretary. In Scotland, where there were State Management Districts at Gretna and Cromarty Firth, responsibility passed to the Secretary of State for Scotland.

The statutory responsibility of the Home Office was discharged by the Aliens Division from 1922 to 1931, H Division (which was set up mainly to deal with liquor licensing) from 1931 to 1959 and thereafter by E Division. Management was carried on through an advisory committee, the State Management Council, appointed by the Home Secretary and the Secretary of State for Scotland

The State Management Districts had been established to manage licensed premises in certain districts of munitions production. In England, in addition to Carlisle there was an Enfield Districts, but the properties of the Enfield scheme were disposed of in 1923.

A Central Office was established in London to administer the English and Scottish Districts and remained in existence until 30 November 1949 when the schemes were reorganised and headquarters offices were set up in Carlisle and Edinburgh respectively.

In Carlisle the scheme met with considerable success and during the 1930s was instrumental in introducing a new concept of public house which placed emphasis on the need for pleasant surroundings in which drink was consumed rather than continuing the earlier type of public house where the main object had been to promote the sale of intoxicating liquor. A new design of public house was also introduced by the scheme.

The system of State management was brought to an end by the Licensing (Abolition of State Management) Act 1971 when the Government decided that the liquor trade should be returned to private enterprise, and the property held by the Secretary of State in connection with the scheme was sold off by 1973..

An explosion in a barge on the Regent's Canal in 1874 indicated that existing explosives legislation was ineffective, and resulted in the Explosives Act 1875. The Act required the manufacture and keeping of gunpowder and other explosives to be licensed, the Home Secretary becoming responsible for licensing explosives factories and magazines and the general administration of the act, advising local authorities who were responsible for licensing and registering premises where small quantities of explosives were kept. The Act was enforced by inspectors of explosives appointed by the Home Secretary and reporting annually to him. They were empowered to inspect premises and hold enquiries into accidents caused by explosives. Government establishments holding explosives were exempted. The inspectors, initially two in number, soon took on duties under the Petroleum Acts 1871 and 1879 and in relation to criminal use of explosives. They also supplied advice to other government departments, particularly the Board of Trade, on explosives matters. Their office, which included assisting clerks, soon became known as the Explosives Department. Home Office administrative work in connection with explosives was performed by the Domestic Department and, after 1912, the Miscellaneous (E) Division. During the First World War the inspectors became responsible for the supervision of explosives factories taken over by the War Office, the conveyance of explosives by road and rail, advising the Ministry of Munitions as to plans of national filling factories and inspecting them when erected, and advising as to the safety of national buildings.

The Home Office Gas Cylinders and Containers Committee came into being in February 1946, following a decision to re-constitute the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research Gas Cylinders and Containers Committee as an advisory body appointed by the home secretary, thus continuing the usefulness of the Committee to the Home Office in the drafting and revision of legislation and regulations. Until its abolition, it maintained a close liaison with the Metallurgy Department of the National Physical Laboratory. The Committee operated under the control of the Explosives Department (later Explosives Inspectorate) of the Home Office General Department until 1964, when the Explosives Inspectorate became a branch of the Fire Department. The Committee had ceased to function by the time of the transfer of responsibilities from the Home Office to the newly-created Health and Safety Commission in 1975.

The Fisheries Department and Inspectorate existed in the Home Office between 1861 and 1886, when responsibility was transferred to the Board of Trade.

The Mines Department and Inspectorate existed in the Home Office between 1843 and 1920, when responsibility was transferred to the new Mines Department. A history will be found in Records of the Mines Inspectorate and predecessors