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***********************************
PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
RECORDS INFORMATION Leaflet No: 130
***********************************
[Note: this and all other PRO Records Information leaflets are (c)
Crown Copyright, but may be freely reproduced except for sale or
advertising purposes. Copies should always include this Copyright
notice -- please respect this.] (c) Crown Copyright, April 1994.
---------------------------- start of text ----------------------------
RECORDS OF THE MINISTRY OF LABOUR
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The Ministry of Labour was established by the New Ministries and
Secretaries Act of 1916 to extend the work of the Labour Departments of
the Board of Trade. It was superseded in 1968 by the Department of
Employment and Productivity. The arrangement of the records reflects the
division of the Ministry into departments. Departmental responsibilities
included employment, industrial relations, health and safety, compilation
of statistics and military recruitment during the period of National
Service.
Early Ministry of Labour Records
LAB 2 contains much of the surviving correspondence of the Ministry of
Labour, and its predecessors, prior to 1934. After 1934 records are
generally found with the appropriate departmental records of the Ministry.
LAB 2 is partially indexed: documents originating from the Ministry's
early Industrial Relations Departments have been listed. LAB 7 contains
docket books which act as a subject index to LAB 2. Guidance on how to use
these as a means of reference to LAB 2 is given in the introduction to the
LAB 7 class list.
Employment and Unemployment
Records of the Ministry's Employment Departments from 1909 are in LAB 8. A
key to file series with the LAB 8 class list acts as a subject index to
documents.
LAB 19 relates to youth employment from 1913 and LAB 20 to disabled
persons employment from 1919. Other records relating to employment are in
LAB 21 Regional Offices: Representative Papers and LAB 23 Special Areas.
Records pertaining to unemployment are in LAB 1 Employment Exchanges
Reports from 1950, LAB 4 Unemployment Grants Committee 1920 to 1952 and
LAB 85 Statistical Returns from 1920. Ministry of Pensions and National
Insurance record classes PIN 3, PIN 6 and PIN 7 also concern unemployment.
Industrial Relations
The Ministry's Industrial Relations Departments were responsible for
arbitrating in industrial disputes. Records of Industrial Relations
Departments from 1895 are in LAB 10. Also relevant are the papers of the
Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS) held under Public
Record Office letter code CW.
LAB 3, LAB 36, LAB 53, and LAB 78 relate to tribunals and appeals: they
include documents subject to extended closure.
LAB 27 contains papers on the 1926 coal mining dispute and general strike.
LAB 34 contains analysis of returns of strikes and lock-outs from 1901.
Wartime Responsibilities of the Ministry of Labour
From 1939 to 1959 the Ministry took the title Ministry of Labour and
National Service. Its national service responsibilities are documented in:
LAB 6 Military Recruitment, LAB 22 National Service Hostels Corporation,
LAB 32 Resettlement after Demobilisation and LAB 45 National Service
specimen documents. Four 1939 sound recordings pertaining to national
service recruitment (formerly LAB 79) have been transferred to the
National Sound Archive, 29 Exhibition Road, London SW7 2AS.
LAB 23 concerns war emergency measures. LAB 76 contains unpublished
histories and reports of the Ministry of Labour and National Service.
These were used by the Cabinet Office as the basis for a published
official history of the Ministry, "Manpower" by H M D Parker, held under
references CAB 102/19.
LAB 79 contains the papers of G H Ince, a former Permanent Secretary to
the Ministry of Labour and National Service, for the years 1940 to 1945.
LAB 76/1 pp 204 and 206 also concerns Ince's career.
LAB 5 relates to the First World War Cabinet Committee on Women in
Industry.
Health and Safety
The Ministry's Welfare Department records from 1940 to 1956 are in LAB 26.
The Ministry took wartime responsibility for the Factory and Welfare
Division of the Home Office in 1940. The transfer was made permanent in
1946. Records relating to factory inspection including former Home Office
Records are in LAB 14, LAB 15, LAB 62 and LAB 67. Home Office records on
this subject from 1839 are in HO 45 and HO 87, for the years 1836 to 1921.
LAB 33 contains the papers of the Industrial Health Services Committee
(Dale Committee) 1949 to 1950. LAB 55 relates to the Inter-Departmental
Working Party on the Gowers Committee Report into Health, Welfare and
Safety in Non-Industrial Places of Employment 1949 to 1952.
LAB 59 contains Home Office Explosives Inspectorate Annual Reports from
1875. LAB 61 Health and Safety Executive: Explosives Committee Miscellanea
has been transferred to the EF letter code, records of the Health and
Safety Commission and Executive.
Other records pertaining to dangerous substances can be found in: LAB 46
Government Wool Disinfecting Station 1897 to 1956 which includes reports
of the Bradford and District Anthrax Investigation Board, LAB 56 Registers
of Poisoning and Anthrax Cases 1901 to 1951 (including an index of cases
and summary of fatal cases) and LAB 66 papers of the Radioactive
Substances Advisory Committee 1945 to 1963.
Trade Boards and Wages Councils
Trade boards and wages councils were created to set minimum wages in
specific industries. Trade Boards were established in 1909 under the
auspices of the Board of Trade. The Ministry of Labour took over
responsibility in 1917. Wages councils replaced trade boards in 1945. LAB
11 contains the records of Trade Boards and Wages Councils including
documents inherited from the Board of Trade. LAB 35 contains Trade Board
and Wages Council Minutes.
In 1959 four Catering Wages Boards were converted to Wages Councils.
Papers of the Catering Wages Commission are in LAB 30.
The National Dock Labour Board
The National Dock Labour Scheme, administered by the National Dock Labour
Board, was created by the Minister of Labour in 1946. Dock workers and
employers were registered under the scheme: registered dockers received a
guaranteed wage if they complied with the scheme by attending for work.
Records of the National Dock Labour Board, and its predecessor the
Natlonal Dock Labour Corporation, are held under letter code BK. Further
records are included in LAB 9, files of the Ministry of Labour Finance
Department.
Training
Records of the Ministry's Training Departments are in LAB 18. LAB 19
concerns youth training and LAB 20 training for disabled people.
LAB 51 relates to Industrial Training Boards established under the 1964
Industrial Training Act. Publications, annual reports and videos in this
class are open to public access. Videos have been transferred to the
National Film Archive, 81 Dean Street, London, SW1 6AA.
LAB 70 containsthe papers of the National Institute of Houseworkers 1945
to 1977. The aim of the institute was training of women for domestic
employment.
Records of the Training Services Agency and Division, formerly in LAB 68
and LAB 75 have been transferred to Manpower Services Commission record
classes ET 2 and ET 6 respectively.
The International Labour Market
The International Labour Division of the Ministry of Labour was created in
1920 to liaise with the International Labour Organisation which had been
established under the Treaty of Versailles to determine international
standards in working conditions. In 1942 the Division was renamed the
Overseas Department. Its role in liaising with international organisations
was extended. It also took responsibility for labour attaches, a newly
created post, in their work with employers' associations and trade unions
overseas.
LAB 42 contains specimen applications by Commonwealth immigrants for
employment vouchers. Files on accommodation for immigrant refugees after
the Second World War are included in LAB 26. Policy papers on immigrant
employment are included in LAB 8.
Further Papers relating to international labour are included in records of
the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and its predecessors.
Statistics
In January 1917 the Ministry of Labour took over responsibility for the
compilations of statistics relating to employment from the Board of Trade.
LAB 17 contains the files of the Statistical Department from 1918, whilst
LAB 41 consists of Statistics Branch: Selected Working Papers from 188O.
A set of the "Ministry of Labour Gazette" and its predecessor "The Board
of Trade Labour Department Gazette" 1893 to 1913 and 1920 to 1952 is in
ZPER 45.
LAB 83 contains Statistics Branch documents on wage rates from 1853 and
LAB 98 Statistics Department: Industry Files which are arranged by
industry.
LAB 69 Statistical Branch returns of Trade Unions and Employers
Association Returns contains voluntary returns from 1895. Trade union
returns collated by the Chief Registrar of Friendly Societies can be found
in FS 11 and FS 12. Some pieces in LAB 28 Royal Commission on Trade Unions
and Employer's Associations, 1965-1968, are open.
Other Ministry of Labour Records
Records of the Ministry of Labour not covered elsewhere in this leaflet
include:
LAB 12 Establishments from 1915
LAB 29 Circulars and Codes of Instruction from 1909
LAB 31 Holidays with Pay 1938
LAB 37 Annual Reports 1923 to 1960
LAB 43 Private Office Papers 1946 to 1974
LAB 44 Information Services: Publications 1932 to 1988
LAB 77 Private Office Papers 1956 to 1979
LAB 80 Specimens of stock forms from 1924
LAB 900 Specimens of Classes of Documents Destroyed 1918 to 1972
Further Reading
Sir Godfrey Ince wrote a history of the Ministry, "The Ministry of Labour
and National Service" (George Allen & Unwin, 1960) whilst a number of
Public Record Office Handbooks include sections on Ministry of Labour
documents:
B Swann and M Turnbull "Records of Interest to Social Scientists:
Unemployment Insurance 1911 to 1939" PRO Handbook No 16 (HMSO, 1975).
B Swann and M Turnbull "Records of Interest to Social Scientists:
Employment and Unemployment 1919 to 1939" PRO Handbook No 18 (HMSO, 1977).
A Land, R Lowe and N Whiteside "The Development of the Welfare State
1939-1951: A Guide to Documents in the Public Record Office" PRO Handbook
No 25 (HMSO, 1992).
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Public Record Office, Chancery Lane, London WC2A 1LR.
Public Record Office, Ruskin Avenue, Kew, Richmond, Surrey, TW9 4DU.
Tel: +44 (0) 181 876-3444
Opening hours: 9.30am - 5.00pm, Monday to Friday. Closed on public
holidays and for annual Stocktaking (normally the first two full weeks
in October).
Admission is by reader's ticket which will be issued on production of
proof of identity, such as a (UK) driving licence or passport.
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This text, and that of other PRO leaflets, is also available from:
- World Wide Web URL: http://sable/ox/ac/uk/~malcolm/genealogy/pro
- Anonymous-FTP (site) sable.ox.ac.uk
(directory) /pub/users/malcolm/genealogy/pro
- if you have trouble accessing either of the above, please contact
(email) malcolm.austen@oucs.ox.ac.uk
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