Department of Health and Social Security
1968 The Department of Health and Social Security (DHSS) was created by the merger of the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Social Security.
1971 the child care functions of the Home Office in England, with the exception of adoption and juvenile delinquency and juvenile courts, passed to DHSS; responsibility for adoption was transferred in April 1973.
1971 responsibility for mentally handicapped children and junior training centres was passed to the Department of Education and Science.
During the 1970s and 1980s a substantial amount of legislation was passed which affected DHSS: this included the creation of the Occupational Pensions Board, and the major reorganisation of the National Health Service (NHS) in 1973-1974. In March 1977 responsibility for proprietary medicines was transferred from the Department of Industry, and in the same year further legislation was passed on the NHS.
1979 Responsibility for the Microbiological Research Establishment at Porton Down was transferred from the Secretary of State for Defence to the Secretary of State for Health and Social Services; it was subsequently renamed the Centre for Applied Microbiology and Research.
1980 the control of the administration of the supplementary benefits system and the provision of reception and resettlement centres passed to DHSS on the abolition of the Supplementary Benefits Commission.
1988 the DHSS was administratively divided into its two traditional broad functions, and separate Departments of Health and Social Security were formed.
See Also
Sources of Information
- [1] National Archives