Ministry of Works: Regional Building Committees: Minutes

WORK 49

1946-1962

This series contains an incomplete set of minutes from the various regional building committees, and their sub-committees, established at the end of the Second World War to regulate and control the national building and civil engineering programme.

Public Record(s)

English

82 file(s)

Subject to 30 year closure

Topics

Conflict

Construction industries

Operations, battles and campaigns

Following the end of the Second World War in 1945, building licensing continued until 1954. Priority for labour and materials was determined by a headquarters Building Committee and regional building committees under Ministry of Works chairmanship and containing representatives of the Ministries of Health, Labour and Supply and of the Board of Trade; from October 1946 they also included representatives of the Ministry of Town and Country Planning. These bodies remained in existence when building licensing came to an end but ceased to meet regularly. Control of building material prices was also maintained; from 1947 to 1952 a Building Materials Prices Committee kept prices under review and dealt with applications for increases. Most of the advisory and consultative bodies representing the building industries remained in being after the war and continued after 1954.

Official membership of the regional building committees consisted of representatives from the Ministry of Works (Chairman), Ministry of Health, Ministry of Labour, Board of Trade and Ministry of Supply. Regional representatives of other departments and bodies, particularly the War Damage Commission, were invited to attend when matters of concern to them were discussed. In October 1946 a representative of the Ministry of Town and Country Planning was added to each committee. A parent committee was established in London to act as a court of appeal and overall co-ordinator. When building licensing was abolished in November 1954 the committees were not officially wound up but ceased to meet regularly. Sets of minutes, from a variety of sources, have been assembled to form this series which nevertheless remains incomplete.