The Home Office 1782-2007
"Generation upon generation, the Home Office is the most disliked and criticized of all government Departments. All the more important, therefore, that there exists a store of accurate knowledge about what it is actually like and how it has developed since 1782 when first it set out to get the King's citizens to behave better. Look no further than these pages."
- Peter Hennessy, Lord Hennessy of Nympsfield
In these seminars organised under the auspices of the Centre for Contemporary British History, more than thirty of those involved in the work of the Home Office over more than forty years meet to discuss how its work is carried out.
An introduction describes the work of the Home Office from its inception up to 2007, then the seminars concentrate on how Home Office functions have changed down the years, how the Home Office Research Unit works, and then the drafting and implementation of two example Acts, the Police and Criminal Evidence Act of 1984 and the Criminal Justice Act of 1991.
This collection is a fascinating and informative insight into the workings of a key government department. It is essential reading for students of constitutional and political history, but is also for more general readers who want to know how our government works.
"Generation upon generation, the Home Office is the most disliked and criticized of all government Departments. All the more important, therefore, that there exists a store of accurate knowledge about what it is actually like and how it has developed since 1782 when first it set out to get the King's citizens to behave better. Look no further than these pages."
- Peter Hennessy, Lord Hennessy of Nympsfield
In these seminars organised under the auspices of the Centre for Contemporary British History, more than thirty of those involved in the work of the Home Office over more than forty years meet to discuss how its work is carried out.
An introduction describes the work of the Home Office from its inception up to 2007, then the seminars concentrate on how Home Office functions have changed down the years, how the Home Office Research Unit works, and then the drafting and implementation of two example Acts, the Police and Criminal Evidence Act of 1984 and the Criminal Justice Act of 1991.
This collection is a fascinating and informative insight into the workings of a key government department. It is essential reading for students of constitutional and political history, but is also for more general readers who want to know how our government works.
Michael Kandiah is the Director of the Witness Programme at King's College London;
R. M. (Bob) Morris (late Assistant Under-Secretary of State)
worked at the Home Office from 1961 to 1997.
ISBN is 978-1-909277-20-5