Records of the Children's Division

Division within BN

1897-1996

Records of the Children's Division relating to child care responsibilities.

Individual case papers and school administrative records are in BN 28; BN 29 contains files dealing with policy matters.

Papers concerning a review of child care arrangements of local authority and NSPCC homes are in BN 61.

Files containing inspection reports on approved schools and remand and voluntary homes are in BN 62.

Files concerning policy and selected individual cases of children detained in local authority homes under s53 of the Children and Young Persons Act 1933 are in BN 74.

The Children's Difficulties on Starting Infant School dataset is in BN 94. The Children Looked After datasets are in BN 98.

Papers of the Children's Committee, which was set up jointly by the Personal Social Services Council and the Central Health Services Council, are in BS 14

Papers of the Committee on Child Health Services are in BN 33

Files concerning the employment of children, mainly in entertainment, are in HO 354

Public Record(s)

English

• Department of Health and Social Security, Child Care Division, 1985-1987
• Department of Health and Social Security, Children, Maternity and Prevention Division, 1987-1988
• Department of Health and Social Security, Childrens Division, 1971-1985
• Department of Health and Social Security, Prevention, Primary, Maternity and Child Health Division, 1985-1987
• Home Office, Childrens Branch, 1924-1949
• Home Office, Childrens Department, 1949-1971

7 series

Topics

Welfare

Children

Following recommendations published in the white paper The Reorganisation of Central Government (Cmnd 4506) in October 1970, the child care responsibilities of the Home Office, Children's Department were largely transferred to the Department of Health and Social Security (DHSS) and the Welsh Office in January 1971. The same departments took over responsibility for adoption in 1973. The Home Office retained responsibility for juvenile courts and delinquency. Records relating to the transferred functions were passed to DHSS (for England) and the Welsh Office (for Wales).

Until 1985, Children's Division was responsible for all aspects of child health services (including maternity services), youth treatment centres, building programmes, child health services, the welfare foods service, juvenile offenders and children in care, employment of children, family planning and abortion. In that year the division was split in two: Child Care Division (branches A and B of the former Children's Division, dealing with adoption and fostering, juvenile offenders, children in care, and the employment of children); and Prevention, Primary, Maternity and Child Health Division (branches C, D and P of the former Children's Division, dealing with a range of topics including child health services, maternity services, vaccination, family planning, infertility, abortion, and health education).

These two divisions were re-integrated in 1987 to form the Children, Maternity and Prevention Division.