Home Office

For a business office in one's home see Small office/home office

The Home Office is a United Kingdom government department, responsible for internal affairs, such as law and order throughout England and Wales. It continues to be known, especially in official papers, as in former times as the Home Department. The Permanent Secretary for the Home Department is Sir David Normington. The Home Office was started as a government act in 1948.

Organization

Ministers as of 22 May 2006

Secretary of State for the Home Department: The Rt Hon.Dr John Reid MP
- Minister of State (Crime, Security and Policing): Tony McNulty MP
  - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Crime, Security and Policing): Vernon Coaker MP
- Minister of State (Criminal Justice System and Offender Management): The Rt Hon. The Baroness Scotland of Asthal QC
  - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Criminal Justice System and Offender Management): Gerry Sutcliffe MP
- Minister of State (Immigration and Citizenship): The Rt Hon. Liam Byrne MP
  - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Immigration and Citizenship): Joan Ryan MP

Permanent Under Secretaries of State of the Home Office

Sir David Normington 2006–
Sir John Gieve 2002–2006
Sir David Omand 1997–2002
Sir Richard Wilson 1994–1997
Sir Clive Whitmore 1988–1994
Sir Brian Cubbon 1979–1988
Sir Robert Armstong 1977–1979
Sir Arthur Peterson 1972–1977
Sir Philip Allen 1966–1972
Sir Charles Cunningham 1957–1966
Sir Frank Newsam 1948–1957
Sir Alexander Maxwell 1938–1948
Sir Russell Scott 1932–1938
Sir John Anderson 1922–1932
Sir Edward Troup 1908–1922
Sir Mackenzie Dalzell Chalmers 1903–1908
Sir Kenelm Digby 1895–1903
Sir David Lefmenn 1905–1943

Departmental agencies

Assets Recovery Agency headed by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Crime, Security and Communities)
Criminal Records Bureau headed by the Minister of State (Criminal Justice and Offender Management)
Forensic Science Service headed by the Minister of State (Crime, Security and Communities)
HM Prison Service headed by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Criminal Justice and Offender Management)
Identity and Passport Service headed by the Minister of State (Immigration and Citizenship)

Location

From 1978 to 2004, the Home Office was located in a Brutalist concrete tower block in Queen Anne's Gate in Westminster, by St. James's Park tube station, although many functions were devolved to offices in other parts of London and the country. Notably, the headquarters of the Immigration and Nationality Directorate are in Croydon.

In Spring 2005, the Home Office moved to a new main office designed by Sir Terry Farrell at 2 Marsham Street, Westminster, on the site of the demolished Marsham Towers building of the Department of the Environment. The contract to build the new headquarters was a public-private partnership deal intended to last for around 29 years.

External links

Home Office—main website
Records created or inherited by the Home Office, Ministry of Home Security, and related bodies—gives a history of responsibilities of the Home Office, including which functions were merged into or transferred away from the Home Office

Departments of the United Kingdom Government | Law enforcement in the United Kingdom | Home Office