Feed for UK ActsThe History of Her Majesty’s Stationery Office
The early years
Her Majesty’s Stationery Office was founded in 1786 - in the reign of King George III - as His Majesty’s Stationery Office. It was created as a result of the reforms of the Royal Household and Civil Service which had been advocated by the influential Whig MP, Edmund Burke.
These changes came about because of unease with the inefficient and expensive system of public administration then in existence. This was particularly apparent when the country was facing the financial burdens of the colonial war in North America and the defence of the first British Empire. Burke’s reforms of the 1780s abolished many of the corrupt and extravagant practices that had thrived with the old system of patronage, under which those with influence at Court were rewarded. Patents issued by the Crown for the supply of stationery to government departments allowed the patentee to buy goods cheaply and to sell at outrageously high prices.
So it was, that on 5 April 1786, John Mayor was appointed as the first ’Superintendant’ of a new Treasury department, His Majesty’s Stationery Office (HMSO).
Purchasing by public contract
The newly-formed HMSO had to be seen to be above the corrupt practices of the past, so in 1806 the Treasury ordered that paper, parchment, pens and sealing wax should be bought by public and open competition. In 1812 this regulation was extended to the purchase of all forms of stationery. The lowest tender was to be accepted in every case and had to be open to public inspection.
An expanding role
In 1822 a parliamentary Select Committee on Printing and Stationery examined allegations of irregularities, which led to a Treasury review of HMSO’s operation. There were two major outcomes:
all government departments had in future to buy through HMSO;
from 1824-25, HMSO was financed by its own Vote in Parliament, instead of collecting payments from each department for goods and services supplied,- a system which was to last over 150 years.
While government forms made up the major part of HMSO’s printing work in the early years, Hansard, then an independent company, retained the selling of parliamentary publications until 1882, when HMSO was made the official publisher to both Houses of Parliament. The additional role was formalised in 1889, when Queen Victoria granted, to the Controller, Royal Letters Patent as ’printer to Her Majesty of all Acts of Parliament’. The Letters Patent appointed the Controller to hold Crown copyright. This grant and the office of the Queen’s Printer continues to the present day.
In 1889, HMSO became responsible for The London Gazette. The Gazette began in 1665 as the Oxford Gazette when the Court had retired to Oxford to escape the plague in London. Today the Gazette carries official announcements and legal notices and includes an Internet edition.
In addition to its role as parliamentary publisher, from its early days, HMSO supervised non-parliamentary government publishing, eg in 1810 the first folio volume of the Statutes of the Realm and later an ambitious reproduction of the Doomsday Book.
The typewriter age
Although American typewriters became available from the 1870s, it was not until 1886 that technical improvements satisfied the Treasury that these new machines were to become essential items of office equipment. HMSO became responsible for purchasing typewriters for public offices, and by the end of the First World War, there were 30,000 in service.
The 20th century
Expansion of HMSO in the First World War put great demands on its organisation, so in 1921 a new structure was put in place that remained largely unaltered for the next 50 years.
The demands placed on HMSO expanded throughout this era, including publishing and printing of materials as diverse as war-time posters, scientific, technical and medical books - as well as more down-to-earth manuals on subjects such as physical training and fruit preserving.
On 1 April 1980, HMSO became one of the first trading funds operating on a commercial basis instead of being funded by Parliamentary Vote.
HMSO today
Following privatisation of the trading functions in 1996, HMSO retained vital public responsibilities. HMSO continues with its core responsibilities for the management of Crown copyright and the statutory responsibilities for production of legislation and the official Gazettes while providing advice and guidance for departments on official publishing matters.
The privatisation was not the final stage in HMSO’s changing role. Its responsibilities developed following the Cross-Cutting Review of the Knowledge Economy in 2000, a repositioned HMSO was established to regulate standards of best practice in the field of Crown copyright licensing; the Information Asset Register and online Click-Use licensing ensuring that HMSO continued to deliver innovative e-services.
With the implementation of the EU Directive on the re-use of Public Sector Information in 2005 it was decided that there was a need for a dedicated body to be the principal focal point for advising on and regulating the operation of public sector information re-use. The Office of Public Sector Information (OPSI) has been established for that purpose. It will be at the heart of information policy, setting standards, providing a practical framework of best practice for opening up and encouraging the use of public sector information. HMSO continues to exist and perform its core activities operating from within OPSI.