Waterguard - Structure

C&E MANAGEMENT - Page contents:
ESTIMATES and COSTS STRUCTURE POST 1908	STRUCTURE AS AT 1958 STRUCTURE AS AT 1970	STRUCTURE AS AT 1971 STRUCTURE OF OUTDOOR SERVICE

WATERGUARD MANAGEMENT - Page contents:
AMALGAMATION WITH THE LANDING STAFF CHANCELLOR GOSCHEN'S MINUTE CLEAN BREAK END OF AN ERA	PARTITION POST GOSCHEN POST WAR PERIOD & THE FINAL YEARS PREVENTIVE WATER GUARD	REVIEWS, REORGANISTIONS & DEMISE WATERGUARD GRADES & GRADING

C&E MANAGEMENT STRUCTURE - Post 1908

C&E MANAGEMENT STRUCTURE - ORGANISATION CHART as at 1958

This chart is a reproduction of that included in the C&E Annual Report for 1958. The Board of Commissioners Customs and Excise consists of a Chairman, Deputy Chairman and four other Commissioners, one of whom is Director of Establishments and Organisation.

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C&E MANAGEMENT STRUCTURE - ORGANISATION CHART as at 1970

This chart is a reproduction of that included in the C&E Annual Report for 1970. The chart represents HM Customs and Excise just prior to the reorganisation of 1972.

C&E MANAGEMENT STRUCTURE - ORGANISATION CHART as at 1971

This chart is a reproduction of that included in the C&E Annual Report for 1971. The chart represents HM Customs and Excise as the Board saw it after the reorganisation of 1972.

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MANAGEMENT STRUCTURES - THE OUTDOOR SERVICE

Collections prior to 1950	Collections as at 1958	Collections as at 1971

Aberdeen Belfast Birmingham Brighton Bristol Cardiff and Newport Chester Cowes Dover Dundee Edinburgh Glasgow Greenock Harwich Hull Inverness Ipswich Leeds Liverpool London Airports London Central London North London Port London South London West Manchester Newcastle Northampton Norwich Nottingham Plymouth Preston Sheffield Southampton Sunderland, Swansea	Aberdeen Belfast Birmingham Brighton Bristol Cardiff and Newport Chester Dover Dundee Edinburgh Greenock Glasgow Harwich Hull Inverness Leeds Liverpool London Airports London Central London North London Port London South London West Manchester Newcastle Northampton Norwich Nottingham Plymouth Preston Reading Sheffield Southampton Swansea	Aberdeen Belfast Birmingham Brighton Bristol Chester Dover Edinburgh Glasgow Greenock Harwich Hull Leeds Liverpool London Airports London Central London North London Port London South London West Manchester Newcastle Northampton Norwich Plymouth Preston Reading South Wales and the Boarders Southampton

WATERGUARD MANAGEMENT STRUCTURES - REVIEWS, REORGANISTIONS & DEMISE

Like other parts of HM Customs & Excise and HM Coastguard, the Waterguard Service changed and evolved over time, as the work it was required to do changed and evolved. New regulations were introduced and old ones were changed or withdrawn. Traditional trades and cargoes gave way to new ones and new types of transportation were introduced. The work at the ports changed over time as the pattern of that work changed.

In the 19th century HM Coastguard was a Naval Reserve for the Admiralty as well as a Preventive force involved in anti smuggling work for HM Customs. Whatever its title, Preventive Water Guard or Waterguard, it was structured as a protective shield around the coast of the Country and apart from the half dozen or so major ports such as Bristol, Liverpool and London, most of the Country was served by Small Ports and Creeks.

In the early 1900's large ocean going passenger Liners, and their passengers, caused the rise of 'passenger ports' such as Southampton, Liverpool and London, with the necessary rise in Waterguard staff to examine the baggage. Later, in the mid 1900's, the rise of air travel, at the expense of the sea going 'passenger liner', and the beginning of the 'inclusive holiday', changed the location of the Waterguard's work once again. The Passenger work moved from the ports to the airports and the Waterguard had to adapt as well by moving the Preventive staff to the airports - to Birmingham, Gatwick, London Heathrow, Luton and Manchester. Finally the EEC changed everything and the Waterguard was no longer required.

Before WWII the Small Ports were usually manned by an Assistant Preventive Officer. After WWII Small Port work was upgraded and the 'Officer in Charge' became a Preventive Officer. The 'Officer in Charge' had to be a 'Jack of all Trades' as in addition to his Customs role he performed 'Agency Work' for other Government Departments, such as HM Immigration and the Board of Trade.

THE PREVENTIVE WATER GUARD

1809

Created in 1809 to end smuggling, the Preventive Water Guard employed 'Land Waiters', 'Tide Waiters' and 'Searchers' on customs work.

1821

By 1821 there were one thousand, one hundred and four men in the force at a hundred and fifty one stations. Divided into 31 Districts, with an Inspecting Commander, each Station was commanded by a Chief Officer with a Chief Boatman and Boatmen to keep guard. Inspecting Commanders were required to make frequent checks on the stations and combined operations with the revenue cruisers and the Riding Officers were conducted in order to test the efficiency of the system. A similar force was established in Ireland.

In 1821 a Committee of Enquiry examined every aspect of the Customs service. It recognised the Preventive Water Guard as a major force against smuggling and recommended that it be again controlled by the Board of Customs along with the Riding officers and Revenue cruisers.

AMALGAMATION WITH THE LANDING STAFF

1860

In 1860, the Preventive Water Guard was amalgamated with the Landing Staff with an approved staff complement for London of:

One Inspector General.
One Controller.
Twelve Surveyors & Inspectors.
Sixteen Assistant Surveyors and Registrars.
A hundred and thirty Land Waiters and Tide Surveyors.
Eight hundred and twenty Lockers, Weighers and Tide Waiters.

But a distinct body of the Watermen were employed solely on Waterguard duties.

CHANCELLOR GOSCHEN'S MINUTE

1891

Following the conclusions of the Chancellor of the Exchequer, in his report of 1891, rummage was considered to be the first line of defence of Customs Revenue and called for experienced, well supervised, Waterguard Officers to undertake the work. General Order 57/1891 defined the Duties of the Preventive staff, and they were to remain much the same as the Waterguard performed for the next 81 years until it was disbanded in 1972. This new Waterguard was initially organised with a staff complement of:

One Inspector.
One Assistant Inspector.
Six Preventive Surveyors.
Twelve Chief Preventive Officers.
Three hundred and ten Preventive Officers.
One thousand, one hundred and twenty six Boatmen.

The name Waterguard was reintroduced and the rummagers were the Boatmen, supervised by Preventive Officers. However the Waterguard was still not a complete entity as only the seven larger ports had Chief Preventive Officer posts. In the remaining ports Preventive Staff were under the supervision of the local Landing Surveyors and Landing Officers.

A copy of the Goschen Minute (5.09MB) can be seen by selecting the 'button' on the right.

::: The Goschen Minute of 1891 :::

General Order No. 57/1891 - 10 August 1891 (referring to the Duties of Preventive Officers following the Goschen Minute) can be seen by selecting the 'button' on the right.

::: GO 57/1891 (10 August 1891) :::

POST GOSCHEN

1898

In 1898, in the light of 6 years experience, it was considered necessary to reorganise the establishment of the Waterguard Service above the rank of Boatman in order to make it more appropriate to the requirements of the service. The changes were introduced by General Order 18/1898 - 21 March 1898 - which can be seen by selecting the 'button' on the right.

::: GO 18/1898 (21 March 1898) :::

1901

General Order 77/1901 introduced a revised List of Ports & Creeks in the UK, showing the places approved by the Commissioners of Customs as Boarding Stations. This List can be seen by selecting the 'button' on the right.

::: Boarding Stations in the UK - 1901 :::

1903

In 1903 the staffing levels were reduced by 133 (No) Boatmen and 8 (No) Preventive Officers, Lower Section and increased by 30 (No) Preventive Officers, Upper Section of which 18 (No) were filled in 1903 and the remainder were filled in 1904. The staffing level was also increased by one Chief Preventive Officer.

General Order No. 25/1903 - 20 March 1903 (referring to Reorganisation of the Waterguard & improvement in position) can be seen by selecting the 'button' on the right.

::: GO 25/1903 (20 March 1903 ) :::

1905

The organisational management structure as at 1905 can be seen by selecting the 'button' on the right.

::: Management Structure as at 1905 :::

It was constructed from information contained in the 'List of the Officers and Clerks in His Majesty's Customs - Outports' printed in 1905. It contains some obvious omissions, such as the structure for the Port of London, and gives an unbalanced view of the size of the Districts due to editorial interpretation - the District boundaries are not clearly defined in the source document. The original document can be seen by selecting the 'button' on the right.

::: List of the Offices - Outports :::

AMALGAMATION WITH THE EXCISE

1908

The 1908 Finance Act transferred the management of Excise Duties and the associated powers and duties of the Commissioners of Inland Revenue, to the Commissioners of Customs. The Commissioners of Customs were renamed The Commissioners of Customs and Excise. The Customs and the Excise Services were amalgamated by an order in Council from 1 April 1909 to be administered by the Board of Customs and Excise and became known as Her Majesty's Customs and Excise. A PDF copy of the 1908 Finance Act can be seen by selecting the 'button' on the right.

::: The Finance Act - 1908 :::

1912

In 1912 a House of Commons Committee, in an enquiry into the organization, pay and conditions of employment of the Customs Waterguard Service, found that they could not agree there was any valid argument based on the retrospective grievances. They did, however, find that the service which was primarily a preventive force charged with the duty of protecting the revenue and preventing frauds thereon, had taken on certain other duties, including those related to public health, over the years. They reported that ' . . . . the present organization of the service dates from 1891, but since that date there has been an addition of various non-revenue duties performed for other departments, such as those under the Merchant Shipping Acts of 1894 and 1906, the Aliens Act of 1905 and the Diseases of Animals Acts, etc. There has also been a large increase in revenue duties proper, owing to the large increase in passenger traffic'.

General Order No. 39/1912 - 10 August 1912 (referring to report of the Committee on the Customs Waterguard Service & the Customs Watchers) can be seen by selecting the 'button' on the right.

::: GO 39/1912 (10 August 1912) :::

A CLEAN BREAK & PARTITION

1921

The Board of Customs and Excise appointed a Departmental Committee to frame an 'Official Side' scheme for reorganising the Waterguard, making a clean break with the Customs Outdoor Service - the Landing & Shipping Staff - with seven Waterguard Divisions being created under the control of Waterguard Superintendents and the local Collectors.

A note on the proposed new organisation of the Waterguard based on the division of the work into two grades - the Rank and File grades and the Supervising grades - can be seen by selecting the 'button' on the right.

::: A note about dividing the work -

24 April 1921 :::

A 'sketch' memo by FSP [Frederick Sydney Parry was Deputy Chairman of the Board of HMC&E] in April 1921 (3.72MB), seeking to justify the Board's re-organisation proposals can be seen by selecting the 'button' on the right.

::: 'Sketch memo' by 'FSP' of April 1921 :::

Waterguard Divisonal Maps, depicting the seven Waterguard Divisions prior to Partition, were sketched circa 19 May 1921. The maps, which show Ireland divide into just two Districts - Dublin, as part of the Liverpool Division, and Cork, as part of the Cardiff Division - can be seen by selecting the 'button' on the right.

::: Waterguard Divisonal Maps

- circa 19 May 1921 :::

1922

Ireland was partitioned. The Irish Free State was created with its capital in Dublin and, with the six parliamentary counties of Antrim, Armagh, Down, Fermanagh, Londonderry and Tyrone remaining under the control of the UK government in London. The 'land boundary' was a new challenge for the Waterguard which in the past only had a coastal boundary to police.

1931

In 1931 the Waterguard Management structure was reorganized with a staffing structure and staff complement of:

1 Inspector General
1 Deputy Inspector General
2 Waterguard Superintendents (1st class)
1 Inspector
1 Waterguard Superintendent (2nd class)
1 Assistant Inspector
30 Waterguard Surveyors
100 Chief Preventive Officers
559 Preventive Officers
900 Assistant Preventive Officers

General Order No. 11/1931 - 5 May 1931 (referring to the Re-organisation of the Waterguard Service) can be seen by selecting the 'button' on the right.

::: GO 11/1931 (5 May 1931) :::

1937

The organisational management structure as at 1937 can be seen by selecting the 'button' on the right.

::: Management Structure as at 1937 :::

The organisational management structure as it was in 1937 can be 'assumed' from the 1937 edition of Public Notice No 68 - 'Boarding Stations for ships arriving at or departing from ports or places in Great Britain or Northern Ireland'. A PDF version of the Public Notice is available from the 'button' on the right.

::: Notice No 68 (1937)- Boarding Stations :::

THE POST WAR PERIOD & THE FINAL YEARS

1945

In 1945, in order to meet anticipated developments after the war, the Waterguard Management structure was reorganized once again and the staff complement increased to:

5 Inspectors (Fixed at Headquarters)
4 Assistant Inspectors (Fixed at Headquarters)
7 Superintendents (1st Class)
16 Superintendents (2nd Class) & Assistant Inspectors (Unattached).
34 Waterguard Surveyors.
150 Chief Preventive Officers
1100 Preventive Officers
600 Assistant Preventive Officers

General Order No. 5/1945 - 30 April 1945 (referring to the Re-organisation of the Waterguard Service) can be seen by selecting the 'button' on the right.

::: GO 5/1945 (30 April 1945) :::

1947

Further changes in the Inspectorate and Superintending Grades were made in view of new work arising from expanding traffic services, to provide for regular inspections, training arrangements and adjustments in the distribution of work and preventive staffs.

General Order No. 13/1947 - 7 May 1947 (referring to Waterguard Re-organisation, CPO - Superintendents) can be seen by selecting the 'button' on the right.

::: G O 13/1947 (7 May 1947) :::

1960s

With its HQ in The London Custom House, the Waterguard was sub-divided into 15 Divisions based on the major ports - Aberdeen, Leith, Newcastle, Hull, Harwich, London, London Airports, Dover, Southampton, Plymouth, Cardiff, Manchester, Liverpool, Belfast and Glasgow. Each of these Divisions was headed by a Waterguard Superintendent and variety of Deputies and Assistants. The day to day work was managed by Chief Preventive Officers and performed by Preventive Officers, Assistant Preventive Officers, Coast Preventive Men and, on the Irish Land Boundary, Land Preventive Men.

The organisational management structure during the 1960s can be seen by selecting the 'button' on the right.

::: Management Structure during the 1960s :::

The organisational management structure during the 1960s is based on the information contained in the 'Green Book', published by the Preventive Staff Association. In its various updated editions it gave an accurate statement of the then current structure of the Waterguard, giving the work content of each Port or Place where staff were based, and the staff then in post. PDF versions of various editions are available from the 'button' on the right.

::: Green Books - A selection :::

1966

A PDF copy of Public Notice No 68 (1966) - 'Boarding Stations for ships arriving at or departing from ports or places in Great Britain or Northern Ireland' - can be seen by selecting the 'button' on the right.

::: Notice No 68 (1966)- Boarding Stations :::

THE END OF AN ERA

Between 1966 and 1968, Lord Fulton was asked to Chair a committee ' . . . to examine the structure, recruitment and management, including training of the Home Civil Service and to make recommendations.'

Although not directly related to that review, the Board of HM Customs & Excise initiated an independent review of the Department with a 'view to modernising it in order to provide the most appropriate organisation to handle its current work and an organisation flexible enough to meet seasonal work and other changes which inevitably take place from time to time, free from unnecessary barriers which may hinder communications or lead to duplication of effort, and sufficiently well constructed to provide a sound foundation for any extensions of work which may arise in the future.'

In March 1969, the Board of HM Customs & Excise published their initial proposals for the future. These initial proposals were published in the April 1969 edition of the Customs Journal, a copy of which can be seen by selecting the 'button' on the right.

::: Reorganisation - The Board's Proposals -

March 1969 :::

Between March 1969 and July 1971 the Customs Journal kept Waterguard staff informed of the progress in the negotiations. Copies of Customs Journals, including editions containing Reorganisation news, can be seen by selecting the 'button' on the right.

::: The Customs Journal :::

Planning meetings, first at Board level then at regional and local levels involving staff representatives from the various Trades Unions - including the Preventive Staff Association which issued progress reports on the negotiations. A copy of a progress report issued in August 1970 can be seen by selecting the 'button' on the right.

::: Reorganisation - Progress Report by the

PSA - August 1970 :::

By late 1970 it had been decided to which Collection's the Waterguard Divisions had been re-allocated, and that as from 4 January 1971 separate Waterguard Divisions would cease to exist, although the old Waterguard Districts and Stations would continue until the schemes for reorganisation were approved and implemented. A copy of OWO 52/70, Item 3, which announced the decision, can be seen by selecting the 'button' on the right.

::: Reorganisation - OWO 52/70, Item 3 :::

The Reorganisation of 1972 was preceded by the Reorganisation Agreement of 1971 which is reproduced here as a PDF.

::: Reorganisation Agreement - 1971 :::

By the end of these protracted negotiations the future of the staff, their terms and conditions of employment and their future promotion prospects, had been set on a new path. The first noticeable change took place on the 4th of January 1971 when the offices of the Inspector General of Waterguard merged with that of the Chief Inspector. This was followed by the merger and realignment of the Waterguard Divisional structure with the then existing Collection structure.

In 1972 HM Customs and Excise was 'reorganised' under the leadership of Sir Louis Petch KCB. A small, 24 page, explanatory booklet was issued to all Customs & Excise staff in advance of the changes. The booklet makes great play of the Departmental changes and improvements that were to come, but in reality they were to decimate the once proud Waterguard service.