Catalogue description Records created or inherited by the Ministry of Land and Natural Resources and successor bodies

Following the election of a Labour government in October 1964 a minister of land and natural resources was appointed with responsibility for the availability and use of natural resources and land in the national interest. His department was primarily responsible for establishing a Land Commission and for leasehold reform. In February 1965 it took over functions of the Ministry of Housing and Local Government concerning tree preservation and access to the countryside and of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food relating to commons and allotments.

The following April further functions of these departments concerning water resources and forestry respectively were similarly transferred. In Wales certain of these responsibilities were exercised jointly with the Welsh Office. The department was also charged with the reorganisation of the water supply industry under full public ownership, but this was not carried through. The new ministry took over responsibility for the Ordnance Survey from the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food in June 1965. It worked in association with the Department of Education and Science in connection with the work of the Natural Environmental Research Council and was also responsible for the general direction of the National Parks Commission, the Water Resources Board, and the Forestry Commission.

The organisation of the department reflected these diverse functions. Administrative divisions were formed to deal with the following subjects: forestry, tree preservation and national parks; planning of water and natural resources; land use; Land Commission (policy); Land Commission (planning); legal; establishment and finance; press and information.

In February 1967 the department was dissolved and its responsibilities for the projected Land Commission and leasehold reform passed to the Ministry of Housing and Local Government, together with those for the countryside, commons and allotments, and water resources in England. That ministry also assumed responsibility for the Ordnance Survey but control of the Forestry Commission reverted to the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food. Certain functions in Wales, including those concerned with commons and water resources, were transferred to the Welsh Office.