Foreign Office: Information Policy Department and Regional Information Departments:...

FO 953

1947-1966

This series contains files of the various Information Departments established in the Foreign Office after 1946 to deal with publicity abroad. They relate to individual countries and to information policy, news and information staff generally. From 1945 the series includes News Department records. From 1965 the series also contains general correspondence of the Foreign Office's Planning Staff. From 1966, Foreign Office and Commonwealth Information Departments were merged as a precursor to the formation of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in October 1968, and records of the joint departments are in this series.

From the beginning of 1950 a revised filing system was adopted by the Foreign Office. This system was based on:

• i) an initial letter (or letters) indicating the Department concerned
• ii) a file number
• iii) a further number indicating the particular paper in the file

A separate series of code numbers by countries was used together with file numbers for papers filed in the Claims, Consular and Information Policy Departments. This modification does not affect the basic filing principle, thus KG 1021/7 stands for paper 7 on file 1 of the Consular Department's Argentina series.

Departmental index letters:

• P - Information, Policy News
• P - General
• PG - Geographical
• PN - News
• PR - Information Research

For pre 1939 records of the News Department see: FO 395

For later files of the Joint Foreign Office/Commonwealth Office Information Departments see FCO 26

Public Record(s)

English

• Foreign Office and Commonwealth Office, Joint Information Administration Department, 1966-1968
• Foreign Office and Commonwealth Office, Joint Information Policy and Guidance Department, 1966-1968
• Foreign Office and Commonwealth Office, Joint Information Services Department, 1966-1968
• Foreign Office and Commonwealth Office, News Department, 1966-1968
• Foreign Office, American Information Department, 1946-1949
• Foreign Office, Eastern European Information Department, 1946-1949
• Foreign Office, Far Eastern Information Department, 1946-1949
• Foreign Office, German Information Department, 1948-1957
• Foreign Office, Information Executive Department, 1957-1965
• Foreign Office, Information Policy Department, 1946-1965
• Foreign Office, Information Services Department, 1947-1954
• Foreign Office, Latin American Information Department, 1946-1949
• Foreign Office, Middle Eastern Information Department, 1946-1949
• Foreign Office, News Department, 1945-1965
• Foreign Office, Planning Staff (Information Departments), 1965-1968
• Foreign Office, Western European Information Department, 1946-1949

2518 file(s)

Subject to 30 year closure unless otherwise stated

Topics

International