Board of Trade: Solicitor's Department: Industry and Investment Grant Files

BT 331

1947-1970

This series contains a selection of files of the Board of Trade Solicitor's Department.

This department provided legal advice to two Board of Trade divisions: advice on industry matters to the Industries Division and advice on investment grant matters to General Division and later Investment Grants Division. The earlier papers relate to the Industrial Organisation and Development Act 1947 and the setting up of development councils for specific industries such as clothing and cotton. The files on investment grants contain legal opinions and details of ministerial meetings, highlighting conflicts which arose as a result of the grants of the Industrial Development Act 1966, particularly in the aluminium smelting industry. Other files deal with legislation such as the Iron and Steel Bill and the Industrial Development (Ships) Bill 1970.

It is likely that the files were originally unregistered folders which were registered at a later date. This may have been at the time when the files passed into the custody of Mintech, probably in 1970, although the files do not appear to have been added to by the ministry. One would expect to find much of the legal advice and opinions contained on these files, on the appropriate Division's policy files. However, cross checks indicate that many of these files have not survived.

For other records dealing with investment grants see: BT 278 BT 321 BT 322 BT 323 BT 324 BT 327

Public Record(s)

English

18 file(s)

Subject to 30 year closure unless otherwise stated

Topics

Clothing

Trade and commerce

Iron, steel and metals

A number of Board of Trade functions were transferred to the Ministry of Technology (Mintech) in the late 1960s and responsibility for investment grants passed to Mintech in 1969. However, the files show that the Division continued to seek the advice of the Board of Trade Solicitor.