Catalogue description Records of the Coal Division

Prior to 1920, responsibilities for the coal industry were split between the Industrial Department of the Home Office, and the Coal Mines Department of the Board of Trade.

In 1920 powers were transferred to the Mines Department of the Board of Trade, set up under the Mining Industry Act 1920. Its creation was in part a response to the mining industry need for its own government department and to implement the main recommendations of the Coal Industry Commission in 1919. The Department was headed by a Parliamentary Secretary of the Board of Trade, known as the Secretary for Mines. All functions relating to the mining industry were transferred to the new Department.

In 1920, under the Mining Industry Act 1920, the Board of Trade was empowered to appoint bodies to assist the Mines Department. In 1921 it created the Advisory Council on Coal and the Coal Industry, which became dormant by the late 1920s though was not formally abolished until the Coal Industry Nationalisation Act of 1946; and the Advisory Committee on the Metalliferous Mining and Quarrying Industry, which met regularly until 1932, and considered a range of subjects including safety and health regulations and the development of mining of metalliferous and associated deposits in Great Britain and also published statistics.

The two main Divisions in the Mines Department were the Production and Labour Divisions, which eventually merged to become the Production and Labour Department.

The Production Division was responsible for monitoring all matters relating to the development of mineral fields. This covered the sinking of new pits, propagating technical improvements in methods of working and treating coal, and supplying advice on technical mining questions to other divisions. It promoted the scientific and economic development of the mineral resources and dealt with questions of drainage subsidies and royalties in coal and metalliferous mines. From 1928 it became responsible for the production of petroleum and petroleum products. When the Division was first created, its work was closely associated with that of the Trade Division and remained so until the latter Division amalgamated with the Works Branch. In this way the Production Division was involved with the import and export of coal and, during the various industrial disputes from 1919 to 1927, was responsible for emergency measures put into operation when strikes broke out.

The Labour Division was headed by a chief labour advisor and staffed by labour advisors and conciliation officers and covered all questions involving staff intervention in the economic and social conditions of workers in the mining industry. It dealt with queries of administrative interpretation arising from the work of the Mines Inspectorate and carried out duties of the Mines Department for the administration of the Miners Welfare Fund. The bulk of the Division's work, however, was concerned with questions of wages, hours and work conditions. The Labour Division was directly involved in the arbitration of disputes; it negotiated directly with the Mining Association of Great Britain and the Miners' Federation over these and legislation affecting the mining industry.

Following the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939, the responsibilities of the Mines Department were expanded to cope with the need for increased production and to plan for rationing and control of distribution as reflected in the expansion of local and regional bodies. In 1940 a Coal Production Council was set up with no statutory powers, though it attempted to improve coal output, and operated through District Production Committees. The lack of success of these measures, coupled with the need to co-ordinate the control of all energy resources, led to the abolition of the Mines Department by Order in Council of 11 June 1942. All the Department's coal functions were transferred to the newly created Ministry of Fuel and Power.

In 1942 the Ministry of Fuel and Power inherited responsibility for matters concerning the coal mining industry and the government assumed full control of mining operations. During the periods of coal control the Ministry's Coal Division was divided into four directorates; a production director responsible for efficiency and output; a labour director responsible for welfare, safety, health and the maintenance of good working conditions in the mines; a services director who supervised the allocation and distribution of coal and a finance director in charge of all financial arrangements, including prices. The organisation was headed by a controller general.

Further economy was promoted by the Fuel Efficiency Branch and by the continuation of the House Coal Distribution Scheme. The Coal Production Council ended in 1942, replaced by the National Coal Board (NCB), chaired by the Minister of Fuel and Power. It was a standing advisory body which represented the industry and which was concerned with production, output, provision of mining supplies and equipment, manpower and productivity ratios and welfare. However, it had no real power to determine policy and remained unconcerned with wage questions. At local level, regional coal boards were set up to advise the regional controllers.

In April 1942 the Mines Department had created a small organisation for the control of opencast coal mining; later handed over to the Ministry of Fuel and Power and expanded into a Directorate. This was transferred to the Ministry of Works between 1943 and 1945 when it reverted back to the Ministry of Fuel and Power. In 1952 its functions passed to the NCB, although the Coal Division retained the responsibility for authorising the Board to work coal by opencast mining.

In the post-war period, the Ministry of Fuel and Power became involved in the process of coal nationalisation and the creation of the NCB. Under the Coal Industry Nationalisation Act 1946, a Central Valuation Board was set up to apportion the total compensation awarded by the Greene Tribunal between twenty-one defined valuation districts. This was completed in 1949. The task of distributing the apportionment between individual owners was left to the District Valuation Boards, constituted in 1947 for this purpose. This compensation was supplemented by an allocation of funds to cover ancillary assets of the properties not directly related to the coal industry. Again, the unit for compensatory purposes was not the company but the district and the detailed valuation of ancillary assets was handled by the District Valuation Boards. The Ministry became involved in financial compensation for losses sustained from this process. Provision was made for district associations and individual colliery companies to present evidence to support their cases and to appeal against the final valuations and compensation arrived at. The increase in administration led to the creation of a Coal Finance and Valuation Branch in the Accountant General's Department.

Under the Coal Industry Nationalisation Act 1946 the Ministry was given certain responsibilities in relation to the activities, policy and plans of the NCB. When coal rationing and domestic coal price control ended in 1958, the Coal Division's main task became that of advising the Minister in the exercise of these responsibilities. It was reorganised into two sections: a Home Branch, which provided the main liaison between the Ministry and the NCB, and Overseas Branch, which dealt with operations concerning import and export of solid fuel and maintained contact with international organisations in connection with the coal industry.

In 1969 when the Ministry was abolished, the Coal Division was absorbed into the Ministry of Technology.