From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Home Office
Home Office
Home Office • Executive agencies
• Non-departmental public bodies
Parliament
• State Opening of Parliament
• Act of Parliament
• Statutory Instruments
• House of Lords
• Lord Speaker
• The Baroness Hayman
The Home Office logo • House of Commons
Department overview • Speaker
• John Bercow MP
Formed 1782
• Prime Minister’s Questions
Headquarters Home Office • Her Majesty’s Loyal Opposition
Marsham Street • Leader
London SW1P 4DF • Ed Miliband MP
Annual £9.6 billion (2007/8) • Shadow Cabinet
budget Judiciary
• Supreme Court of the United Kingdom
Minister Theresa May, Secretary of State for the
responsible Home Department • Courts of the United Kingdom
• Courts of England and Wales
Website • Courts of Northern Ireland
www.homeoffice.gov.uk • Courts of Scotland
• Constitution
United Kingdom • Human rights
UK countries
• England
• Greater London Authority
• London Assembly
• Northern Ireland
• Northern Ireland Executive
• Northern Ireland Assembly
• Scotland
• Scottish Government
This article is part of the series: • Scottish Parliament
Politics and government of • Wales
the United Kingdom • Welsh Government
• National Assembly for Wales
Government
• Reserved matters
• Sovereign
Elections
• Queen Elizabeth II
• Elections in the United Kingdom
• The Crown
• Parliament constituencies
• Royal Prerogative
• Political parties
• Privy Council
• Last election
• Cabinet
• Next election
• Prime Minister
Foreign policy
• David Cameron MP
• Foreign relations
• Full list of members
• Politics of the European Union
• Her Majesty’s Civil Service
• Departments
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Home Office
Other countries · Atlas Customs officer · Traffic officer · Immigration officer ·
Politics portal Police Community Support Officer · Police Custody
The Home Office is the United Kingdom government de- and Security Officer · Tipstaff · Traffic warden · Water
partment responsible for immigration control, security, bailiff · Wildlife inspector
and order. As such it is responsible for the police, UK
Concepts
Border Agency, and the Security Service (MI5). It is also
in charge of government policy on security-related issues Chief police officer · Emergency Control Centre ·
such as drugs, counter-terrorism, and ID cards. It was for- Home Office · Neighbourhood Policing Teams · Police
merly responsible for the Prison Service and Probation area · Police Authority · Police Cadets · Police Federa-
Service, but these are now under a newly created Min- tion of England and Wales · Scottish Police Federa-
istry of Justice. tion · Police Information Point · Police Oath · Police
It continues to be known, especially in official papers powers in: England and Wales - Scotland - Northern
and when referred to in Parliament, by its former title, Ireland · Police Support Volunteer · Scotland Yard ·
the Home Department [1]
Department. Single Non-Emergency Number · Warrant Card
Acts
Organisation Police Act 1964 · Police (Scotland) Act 1967 · Police
The Home Office is currently undergoing a major reform and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 · Police Act 1996 · Po-
programme, following well-publicised issues in early lice Reform Act 2002 · Serious Organised Crime and
2006. This is the current organisation of the Home Office, Police Act 2005 ·
but is likely to change. It is also immensely complex as Law · Courts · Prisons
there are many sub-groups within the Home Office, such
as the UK Border Agency, who look after inward migra-
tion and asylum applications to the United Kingdom. The Objectives
Home Office is also responsible for the Counter-Terror- The Home Office has the following stated objectives:[3]
ism and Intelligence Directorate and the Office for Secu- • To reduce crime
rity and Counter-Terrorism, which manage the UK’s re- • To ensure people feel safer in their homes and daily
sponse to terrorist incidents through the emergency and lives, particularly through more visible, responsive
security services, and develops legislation relating to ter- and accountable policing
rorism. • To protect the UK from terrorist attacks
On 28 March 2007 it was announced that the Depart- • To re-balance the criminal justice system in favour
ment for Constitutional Affairs would take control of pro- of the law-abiding majority and victims
bation, prisons and prevention of re-offending in Eng- • To manage offenders in order to protect the public
land and Wales from the Home Office and be renamed the and reduce re-offending
Ministry of Justice.[2] This took effect on 9 May 2007. • To secure the borders of the United Kingdom,
Law enforcement prevent abuse of immigration laws and manage
in the United Kingdom migration to the benefit of the UK.
Crime in the UK · Terrorism in the UK
Topics
Ministers
The Home Office Ministers are as follows:[4]
Agencies (defunct) · Firearms use · History · Ranks ·
Theresa May is also Minister for Women and Equalities
Table of police forces
and Lynne Featherstone Parliamentary Under Secretary
Equipment of State at the Government Equalities Office. Nick Her-
Aviation · Firearms list · Uniform and equipment · Ve- bert works between the Home Office and the Ministry of
hicles Justice.
Types of agency
History
Territorial police forces · Special police forces · Port
police · Park police (London) · Service police · Non-po- On 27 March 1782, the Home Office was formed by re-
lice · Other naming the existing Southern Department, with all ex-
isting staff transferring. On the same day, the Northern
Types of agent Department was renamed the Foreign Office.
Accredited Person · Bailiff · Civil enforcement officer · To match the new names, there was a transferring of
Special Constable · Constable · Court security officer · responsibilities between the two Departments of State.
2
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Home Office
Minister Rank Portfolio
The Rt Hon Theresa May Secretary of State for the Home Overall responsibility
MP Department (includes security and counter-terrorism)
(Home Secretary)
The Rt Hon Nick Herbert Minister of State Policing and criminal justice
MP
Lord Henley[5] Minister of State Crime prevention and anti-social behaviour re-
duction
Damian Green MP Minister of State Immigration, asylum and border control
James Brokenshire MP Parliamentary Under Secretary of Crime and security
State
Lynne Featherstone MP Parliamentary Under Secretary of Criminal information
State
Key Conservative
Liberal Democrat
Lunar House in Croydon, which holds the headquarters of the
Home Office UK Border Agency
All domestic responsibilities were moved to the Home Of-
fice, and all foreign matters became the concern of the
Foreign Office.
Most subsequently created domestic departments
(excluding, for instance, those dealing with education)
have been formed by splitting responsibilities away from
the Home Office.
The initial responsibilities were:
• Answering petitions and addresses sent to the King
• Advising the King on
• Royal grants
• Warrants and commissions The former Home Office building at 50 Queen Anne’s Gate, Lon-
don
• The exercise of Royal Prerogative
• Issuing instructions on behalf of the King to officers
of the Crown, Lords Lieutenant and magistrates, Responsibilities were subsequently changed over the
mainly concerning law and order years that followed:[6]
• Operation of the secret service within the UK • 1793 added: regulation of aliens
• Protecting the public • 1794 removed: control of military forces (to
• Safeguarding the rights and liberties of individuals Secretary of State for War)
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Home Office
• 1801 removed: colonial business (to Secretary of • 1934 removed: metropolitan boroughs (to Ministry
State for War and the Colonies) of Health)
• 1804 removed: Barbary State consuls (to Secretary of • 1937 removed: road accident returns (to Ministry of
State for War and the Colonies) Transport)
• 1823 added: prisons • 1938 added: fire services
• 1829 added: police services • 1938 removed: Imperial Service Order and medal (to
• 1836 added: registration of births, deaths and Treasury)
marriages in England and Wales • 1940 removed: factory inspections (to Ministry of
• 1844 added: naturalisation Labour)
• 1845 added: registration of Friendly Societies • 1945 removed: workmen’s compensation scheme (to
• 1855 removed: yeomanries and militias (to War Ministry of National Insurance)
Office) • 1947 added: infant and child care (from Ministry of
• 1858 added: local boards of health Health)
• 1871 removed: local boards of health (to Local • 1947 removed: regulation of advertisements (to
Government Board) Ministry of Town and Country Planning)
• 1871 removed: registration of births, deaths and • 1947 removed: burial fees (to Ministry of Health)
marriages (to Local Government Board) • 1947 removed: registration of Building Societies (to
• 1872 removed: highways and turnpikes (to Local Treasury)
Government Board) • 1948 removed: Broadmoor hospital (to Lunacy Board
• 1875 added: control of explosives of Control)
• 1875 removed: registration of Friendly Societies (to • 1950 removed: structural precautions for civil
Treasury) defence (to Ministry of Works)
• 1885 removed: Scotland (to Secretary for Scotland • 1950 removed: minor judicial appointments (to Lord
and the Scottish Office) Chancellor)
• 1886 removed: fishing (to Board of Trade) • 1953 removed: slaughterhouses (to Ministry of
• 1889 removed: Land Commissioners (to Board of Housing and Local Government)
Agriculture) • 1954 removed: markets (to Ministry of Housing and
• 1900 removed: matters relating to burial grounds (to Local Government)
Local Government Board) • 1956 removed: railway accidents (to Ministry of
• 1905 removed: public housing (to Local Government Transport and Civil Aviation)
Board) • 1969 removed: reservoirs (to Ministry of Housing
• 1914 added: dangerous drugs and Local Government)
• 1919 removed: aircraft and air traffic (to Air • 1971 removed: child care in England (to Department
Ministry) of Health and Social Security)
• 1919 removed: use of human bodies in medical • 1971 removed: child care in Wales (to Welsh Office)
training (to Ministry of Health) • 1972 removed: Northern Ireland (to Northern
• 1919 removed: infant and child care (to Ministry of Ireland Office)
Health) • 1973 removed: adoption (to Department of Health
• 1919 removed: lunacy and mental health (to Ministry and Social Security)
of Health) • 1992 removed: broadcasting and sport (to the new
• 1919 removed: health and safety (to Ministry of Department of National Heritage - later the
Health) Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
• 1920 added: firearms • 2007 removed: criminal justice, prisons & probation
• 1920 removed: Representation of Britain abroad in and legal affairs (to new Ministry of Justice)
labour matters (to Ministry of Labour) • 2007 added: counter-terrorism strategy (from the
• 1920 removed: mining (to Mines Department) Cabinet Office)
• 1921 added: elections (from the Ministry of Health) The Home Office retains a variety of functions that have
• 1922 removed: relations with Irish Free State (to not found a home elsewhere, and sit oddly with the main
Colonial Office) law-and-order focus of the department, such as regula-
• 1923 removed: Order of the British Empire (to tion of British Summer Time.
Treasury)
• 1925 removed: registration of trade unions (to Permanent Under Secretaries of State of
Ministry of Labour) the Home Office
• 1931 removed: county councils (to Ministry of
• Dame Helen Ghosh 2011-
Health)
• Sir David Normington 2006–2010
• 1933 added: poisons
4
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Home Office
• Sir John Gieve 2002–2006 In Spring 2005, the Home Office moved to a new main
• Sir David Omand 1997–2002 office designed by Sir Terry Farrell at 2 Marsham Street,
• Sir Richard Wilson 1994–1997 Westminster, SW1P 4DF, on the site of the demolished
• Sir Clive Whitmore 1988–1994 Marsham Towers building of the Department of the Envi-
• Sir Brian Cubbon 1979–1988 ronment.[7] The contract to build the new headquarters
• Sir Robert Armstong 1977–1979 was a public-private partnership deal intended to last for
• Sir Arthur Peterson 1972–1977 around 29 years.
• Sir Philip Allen 1966–1972 For external shots of its fictional Home Office, the TV
• Sir Charles Cunningham 1957–1966 series Spooks uses an aerial shot of the Government Of-
• Sir Frank Newsam 1948–1957 fices Great George Street instead, serving as stand-in to
• Sir Alexander Maxwell 1938–1948 match the distinctly less modern appearance of the ficti-
• Sir Russell Scott 1932–1938 tious accommodation interiors the series uses.
• Sir John Anderson 1922–1932
•
•
Sir Edward Troup 1908–1922
Sir Mackenzie Dalzell Chalmers 1903–1908
Research
• Sir Kenelm Digby 1895–1903 To meet the UK’s 5-year science and technology strat-
• Sir Godfrey Lushington 1885-1895 egy,[8] the Home Office sponsors research in police sci-
ences including:
Executive agencies • Biometrics – including face and voice recognition
• Criminal Records Bureau reporting to the Minister of • Cell type analysis – to determine the origin of cells
State (Policing and Criminal Justice) (e.g. hair, skin)
• Identity and Passport Service reporting to the • Chemistry – new techniques to recover latent
Minister of State (Immigration) fingerprints
• UK Border Agency reporting to the Minister of State • DNA – identifying offender characteristics from DNA
(Immigration) • Improved Profiling – of illicit drugs to help identify
The department is also responsible for a government- their source
owned company, the Forensic Science Service, reporting • Raman Spectroscopy – to provide more sensitive
to the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Crime and drugs and explosives detectors (e.g. roadside drug
Security). detection)
• Terahertz imaging methods and technologies – e.g.
image analysis and new cameras, to detect crime,
Location enhance images and support anti-terrorism
Devolution
Most front-line law and order policy areas, such as polic-
ing, are devolved in Scotland and Northern Ireland but
the following reserved and excepted matters are handled
by Westminster.
Scotland[9]
Reserved matters:
• Drug abuse
• Emergency powers
• Extradition
• Firearms
• Immigration and nationality
The Home Office building at 2 Marsham Street, London • Scientific procedures on live animals
The Scottish Government Justice and Communities
From 1978 to 2004, the Home Office was located at 50 Directorates are responsible for policing and community
Queen Anne’s Gate, a Brutalist office block in Westmin- safety policy.
ster designed by Sir Basil Spence, close to St. James’s Park Northern Ireland[10]
tube station. Many functions, however, were devolved Excepted matters:
to offices in other parts of London and the country, no- • Extradition (as an international relations matter)
tably the headquarters of the Immigration and National- • Immigration and nationality
ity Directorate in Croydon.
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Home Office
The following matters were not transferred at the devo- [6] "Changes to Home Office responsibilities".
lution of policing and justice on 12 April 2010 and remain Casbah.ac.uk. http://www.casbah.ac.uk/cats/
reserved:[11] archive/138/PROA00008.htm. Retrieved
• Drug classification 2010-06-19.
• Parades [7] New Home Office building
• Security of explosives [8] "Police Science and Technology Strategy: 2004 -
• Serious Organised Crime Agency 2009". homeoffice.gov.uk.
The Home Office’s main counterparts in Northern Ireland http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/documents/
are: PoliceST_S2_part11.pdf?view=Binary. Retrieved 27
• Department of Justice (policing, public order and September 2010.
community safety) [9] "Scotland Act 1998, Schedule 5, Part I". Opsi.gov.uk.
• Northern Ireland Office (national security in http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts1998/
Northern Ireland)[12] ukpga_19980046_en_14#sch5-pt1. Retrieved
The Department of Justice is accountable to the Northern 2010-06-19.
Ireland Executive whereas the Northern Ireland Office is [10] "Northern Ireland Act 1998, Schedule 2".
a UK Government department. Opsi.gov.uk. 1950-11-04. http://www.opsi.gov.uk/
Wales acts/acts1998/ukpga_19980047_en_11#sch2.
Under the Welsh devolution settlement, specific pol- Retrieved 2010-06-19.
icy areas are transferred to the National Assembly for [11] Northern Ireland Assembly Information Office.
Wales rather than reserved to Westminster. "’’Policing and Justice’’ motion, Northern ireland
Assembly, 12 April 2010". Niassembly.gov.uk.
See also http://www.niassembly.gov.uk/record/
reports2009/100309.htm#4. Retrieved 2010-06-19.
• Home Office Large Major Enquiry System [12] "About the NIO". Nio.gov.uk. 2010-04-12.
• John Gieve http://www.nio.gov.uk/index/about-the-nio.htm.
• Ministry of Home Security Retrieved 2010-06-19.
• United Kingdom budget
• UK Immigration Service
External links
References • Home Office—main website
• Records created or inherited by the Home Office,
[1] Department of the Official Report (Hansard), House Ministry of Home Security, and related bodies—gives
of Commons, Westminster (2008-06-09). "Hansard - a history of responsibilities of the Home Office,
Oral Questions to the Home Department - 9 June including which functions were merged into or
2008". Publications.parliament.uk. transferred away from the Home Office
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ • Home Office Watch - list of Home Office mistakes and
cm200708/cmhansrd/cm080609/debtext/ errors
80609-0001.htm#0806094000006. Retrieved
2010-06-19.
[2] Home Office Split BBC News Online
[3] Home Office aims
[4] Cabinet Office List of Government Departments
and Ministers: Home Office
[5] Home Office: New Lords minister at Home Office
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Home_Office&oldid=460673844"
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• English law
• Public safety ministries
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Home Office
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