Welsh Office

See also: Wales Office
Welsh Office
Swyddfa Gymreig
Royal Badge of Wales
Department overview
Formed1965
Dissolved1999
Superseding Department
JurisdictionGovernment of the United Kingdom
HeadquartersCrown Buildings, Cathays Park
Minister responsible
Welsh Office buildings in Cardiff & London
The old Crown Building, Cathays Park, Cardiff
The new Crown Building, Cathays Park, Cardiff
Gwydyr House, Whitehall, London

The Welsh Office (Welsh: Swyddfa Gymreig) was a department in the Government of the United Kingdom with responsibilities for Wales. It was established in April 1965 to execute government policy in Wales, and was headed by the Secretary of State for Wales, a post which had been created in October 1964. It was disbanded on 1 July 1999 when most of its powers were transferred to the National Assembly for Wales,[1] with some powers transferred to the Office of the Secretary of State for Wales (Welsh: Swyddfa Ysgrifennydd Gwladol Cymru), a department popularly known as the Wales Office.

The Welsh Office took over the responsibilities related to housing, local government and town and country planning, etc. for Wales which had previously been the responsibilities of several other government departments. Its responsibilities included Monmouthshire, which for some purposes had earlier been considered by some to lie within England.[2]

  1. ^ "Key Events in the Development of the National Assembly for Wales" (PDF). National Assembly for Wales. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 7, 2009. Retrieved 2009-04-12.
  2. ^ Example of Welsh Office debate re Monmouthshire