This is a list of public bodies which have Crown status. This means that the material they produce is subject to Crown copyright protection under Section 163 of the Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988. The list is not complete or authoritative, and is maintained to assist The National Archives in its function of administering Crown copyright. The National Archives has no role in deciding or determining Crown status, and any enquiries as to whether or not any particular body is or is not a Crown body should be directed initially to the body in question.
In some cases, certain Crown bodies (such as Trading Funds) have a Delegation of Authority from the Keeper to license the re-use of material they originate. In such cases re-users need to obtain permission from these bodies directly. The National Archives has also produced a Permanent Secretary’s Guide to Copyright (PDF, 0.88MB).
For ease of reference, any organisation which has the words ‘Department’ or ‘Ministry’ as part of their title has been indexed under their main activity. For example, Department of Health appears under ‘H’ as Health, Department of; and Ministry of Defence appears under ‘D’ as Defence, Ministry of.
If you are a Crown body undergoing a change of status please let us know by contacting psi@nationalarchives.gov.uk.
Some of the wide range of non-Crown bodies are included in the Non-Crown Bodies list below. Note that this list is not definitive.
A – B – C – D – E – F – G – H – I – J – L – M – N – O – P – R – S – T – U – V – W
A
- Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service
- Animal and Plant Health Agency (DEFRA)
- Appeals Service (DWP)
- Attorney General’s Office
B
- Bona Vacantia Division (GLD)
- Border Force (HO)
- Business and Trade, Department for (DBT)
C
- Cabinet Office (CO)
- Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (DEFRA)
- Charity Commission
- Chemicals Regulation Directorate (HSE)
- Child Maintenance Service (DWP)
- Companies House (BEIS)
- Crown Commercial Service (CO)
- Crown Prosecution Service
- Culture, Media and Sport, Department for
D
- Defence, Ministry of (MoD)
- Defence Children Services (DCS) (MOD)
- Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (MoD)
- Defence Business Service National Security Vetting (MoD)
- Disability Unit
- Disclosure and Barring Service (HO)
- Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency
- Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DFT)
E
- Education, Department for (DFE)
- Energy Security and Net Zero, Department for (DESNZ)
- Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Department for the (DEFRA)
F
- Food Standards Agency
- Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO)
- Forestry Commission
- Forest Enterprise
- Forest Research
G
- General Register Office (GRO)
- Government Actuary’s Department
- Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ)
- Government Equalities Office
- Government Legal Department (formerly TSOL)
- Government Office for Science (BEIS)
H
- Health and Safety Executive
- Health and Safety Laboratory
- Health and Social Care, Department of (DHSC)
- His Majesty’s Stationery Office (see National Archives, The)
- HM Courts and Tribunals Service (MoJ)
- HM Land Registry
- HM Passport Office (HO)
- HM Prison and Probation Service (MoJ)
- HM Prison Service (MoJ)
- HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC)
- HM Treasury
- Highways England (DFT)
- Home Office (HO)
- Hydrographic Office (MOD)
I
- Insolvency Service (BEIS)
- Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education
- Intellectual Property Office (BEIS)
J
- Justice, Ministry of
- Job Centre Plus (DWP)
L
- Law Commission
- Legal Secretariat to the Law Officers
- Levelling Up, Housing & Communities, Department for (DLUHC)
- Lord Chamberlain’s Office
- Lord Privy Seal and Leader of the House of Lord’s Office
M
- Marine Management Organisation (MMO) (DEFRA)
- Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) (DFT)
- Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (DH)
- Met Office (BEIS)
N
- National Archives, The
- National Crime Agency, The
- Northern Ireland Administration
- Northern Ireland Office
- Northern Ireland Prison Service (NIA)
O
- Office of the Judge Advocate General of the Forces (MoJ)
- Office for Product Safety and Standards (BEIS)
- Office for Standards in Education
- Office of Gas and Electricity Markets
- Office of Manpower Economics
- Office for National Statistics (ONS)
- Office of Qualification and Examination Regulation
- Office of the Public Guardian (MoJ)
- Office of Public Sector Information (The National Archives)
- Office of Rail and Road (DFT)
- Office of Water Services (OFWAT)
P
- Parliamentary Counsel, Office of the
- Planning Inspectorate (DCLG)
- Prime Minister’s Office
- Privy Council Office
- Probation Service (MoJ)
Q
- Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre (DLUHC)
R
- Rural Payments Agency (DEFRA)
S
- Science, Innovation and Technology, Department for (DSIT)
- Scotland Office
- Scottish Government
- Secret Intelligence Service (MI6)
- Security Service (MI5)
- Serious Fraud Office
T
- Transport, Department for
- Treasury, HM
U
- UK Debt Management Office (HMT)
- UK Defence and Security Exports
- UK Export Finance
- UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA)
- UK Space Agency
- UK Statistics Authority
- UK Visas and Immigration
V
- Valuation Office Agency (HMRC)
- Vehicle Certification Agency (DFT)
- Veterans UK (MOD)
- Veterinary Medicines Directorate (DEFRA)
W
- Wales Office (Office of the Secretary of State for Wales)
- Welsh Government
- Wilton Park (FCO)
- Work and Pensions, Department for (DWP)
Devolved governments
Scotland
Scottish Administration (incorporating Non-Ministerial Departments and Officeholders in the Scottish Administration) Scottish Government (incorporating Executive Agencies)
- Accountant in Bankruptcy
- Disclosure Scotland
- Education Scotland
- Historic Scotland
- Scottish Housing Regulator
- Scottish Prison Service
- Scottish Public Pensions Agency
- Student Awards Agency for Scotland
- Transport Scotland
Northern Ireland
The Executive Office
Agriculture and Rural Development, Department of
- Forest Service
- Northern Ireland Environment Agency
Communities, Department for
- Public Record Office of Northern Ireland
Economy, Department for the
- Health and Safety Executive for Northern Ireland
Education, Department of
Finance, Department of
- Land Registers of Northern Ireland
- Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland
Health, Department of
Infrastructure, Department for
- DfI Rivers
Justice, Department of
- Northern Ireland Prison Service
- Northern Ireland Courts and Tribunals Service
- Forensic Science Agency
- Youth Justice Agency
- Legal Services Agency Northern Ireland
Wales
Executive Agency:
- Cadw: Welsh Historic Monuments
Inspectorate for Education and Training in Wales, HM
Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales
Wales Office (Office of the Secretary of State for Wales)
Non-Crown bodies
There is a wide range of public bodies which do not have Crown status and do not fall within Crown copyright management. This can cause confusion and uncertainty. Some of the bodies often mistakenly assumed to be Crown bodies are listed below:
- Audit Commission
- Audit Scotland
- BBC
- British Council
- British Geological Survey
- British Library
- British Standards Institute (BSI)
- Care Quality Commission
- Competition Commission (successor to the Monopolies and Mergers Commission)
- English Heritage
- Environment Agency
- Financial Services Authority
- Historic Royal Palaces
- Imperial War Museums (and museums generally)
- Information Commissioner
- Learning Skills Councils
- National Audit Office
- National Library of Scotland
- National Library of Wales
- Natural Environment Research Council
- NI Housing Executive
- Office of Communications (Ofcom)
- Parliamentary Ombudsman and the Health Service Ombudsman
- Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (and their Welsh and Scottish equivalents)
- Royal Armouries
- Royal Botanic Gardens
- Royal National Institute for the Blind (RNIB)
- Scottish Information Commissioner
- Scottish Natural Heritage
- Scottish Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration
- Welsh Administration Ombudsman