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For a business office in one's home, see Small office/home office.
The Home Office is the United Kingdom government department responsible for immigration control, security and order. As such it is responsible for the police, United Kingdom Borders Agency and MI5. It is also in charge of government policy on security-related issues such as drugs, counter-terrorism and ID cards. It was formerly responsible for the Prison Service and Probation Service, but these are now under a newly created Ministry of Justice. It continues to be known, especially in official papers and when referred to in Parliament, by its former title, the Home Department.[1]
[edit] OrganisationThe Home Office is currently undergoing a major reform programme, following well-publicised issues in early 2006. This is the current organisation of the Home Office, but is likely to change. It is also immensely complex as there are many sub-groups within the Home Office, such as the UK Border Agency, who look after inward migration and asylum applications to the United Kingdom. The Home Office is also responsible for the Counter-Terrorism and Intelligence Directorate and the Office for Security and Counter-Terrorism, which manage the UK's response to terrorist incidents through the emergency and security services, and develops legislation relating to terrorism. On 28 March 2007 it was announced that the Department for Constitutional Affairs would take control of probation, prisons and prevention of re-offending in England and Wales from the Home Office and be renamed the Ministry of Justice.[2] This took effect on 9 May 2007. [edit] Objectives of the Home OfficeThe Home Office has the following stated objectives[3]:
[edit] Ministers
[edit] Shadow SecretariesThe Conservative Party's Shadow Secretary of State is Chris Grayling MP.[5] The Liberal Democrat spokesman is Chris Huhne MP.[6] [edit] History  On 27 March 1782, the Home Office was formed by renaming the existing Southern Department, with all existing staff transferring. On the same day, the Northern Department was renamed the Foreign Office. To match the new names, there was a transferring of responsibilities between the two Departments of State. All domestic responsibilities were moved to the Home Office, and all foreign matters became the concern of the Foreign Office. Most subsequently created domestic departments (excluding, for instance, those dealing with education) have been formed by splitting responsibilities away from the Home Office. The initial responsibilities were:
Responsibilities were subsequently changed over the years that followed[7]:
The Home Office retains a variety of functions that have not found a home elsewhere, and sit oddly with the main law-and-order focus of the department, such as regulation of British Summer Time. [edit] Permanent Under Secretaries of State of the Home Office
[edit] Departmental agencies
[edit] Allegations of discriminationIn December 2009 statistics released by the Home Office showed that 41% of visa applications from Pakistan were rejected. This was by far the highest number of rejections from any country in the world. In support of Pakistanis, the Lib Dem MP Sarah Teather questioned why it was so high in comparison with other countries, before later accusing the Home Office of discrimination against Pakistanis.[8][9] [edit] Location From 1978 to 2004, the Home Office was located in a Brutalist block in Queen Anne's Gate in Westminster designed by Sir Basil Spence, close to St. James's Park tube station. Many functions, however, were devolved to offices in other parts of London and the country, notably the headquarters of the Immigration and Nationality Directorate in Croydon. In Spring 2005, the Home Office moved to a new main office designed by Sir Terry Farrell at 2 Marsham Street, Westminster, SW1P 4DF, on the site of the demolished Marsham Towers building of the Department of the Environment.[10] The contract to build the new headquarters was a public-private partnership deal intended to last for around 29 years. [edit] ResearchTo meet the UK's 5-year science and technology strategy, the Home Office sponsors research in police sciences including:
[edit] See also[edit] References
[edit] External links
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