Labour Statistics Department LS

This section concerns the Labour Statistics Department LS.

Later files are in I&S, LAB 7/197-204, and STATS, LAB 7/235-239:

(LAB 7/235-239):

Earlier files are in CL&S/L, LAB 7/17-21:

(LAB 7/197-204):

The Labour Statistics Department was created in 1913, when the Labour Department of the Board of Trade split into three parts. It was transferred to the newly formed Ministry of Labour in July, 1917. In 1919 it merged with the Labour Intelligence Division which had been part of the HQ Department, to form the Intelligence and Statistics Department.

Notes for the Select Committee on National Expenditure 13.11.1917, ED 19805/1917 (in LAB 2/1492) list the following duties for the Labour Statistics Department: 'Preparation of Labour Gazette; compilation of labour statistics, e.g. wages, loans, disputes, prices, cost of living; preparation of Directory of Industrial Associations; collection and examination of TU reports, maintenance of a library, collection and examination of foreign publications'.

The department had a number of Labour Correspondents in various parts of the country who submitted periodical reports on labour matters in their districts.

During the 1914-1918 war much of the work of the department was concerned with collection of information on food prices and preparation of summaries of foreign prices. The director of the department was chairman of the Reserved Occupation Committee.