The initiative was taken by the President of the Board of Education who, in May 1915, presented to Parliament a white paper urging that a permanent organisation for the promotion of scientific and industrial research should be set up.
As a first step, a scheme was devised for encouraging groups of firms to set up co-operative industrial research associations.
For this purpose, a lump sum of £1 million, the 'Million Fund', was voted and an Imperial Trust was set up to administer it.
Consequently, in December 1916 a separate Department of Scientific and Industrial Research was created, having its own parliamentary vote but responsible to Parliament through the Lord President of the Council.
[4] The department was responsible for the organisation, development and encouragement of scientific and industrial research and the dissemination of its results.
[4] The department absorbed or created a number of research organisations, which included large laboratories for special fields of work.
Existing institutions for which it assumed responsibility were the National Physical Laboratory from the Royal Society in 1918, the Geological Survey and Geological Museum from the Board of Education in 1919, the Road Experimental Station from the Ministry of Transport in 1933, the Laboratory of the Government Chemist (previously the Government Chemist's Department) in 1959, and the Tropical Products Institute[5] from the Colonial Office in the same year.
Late in 1954, the Lord President appointed a small committee under the chairmanship of Sir Henry Jephcott to enquire into the organisation and functioning of the department.
[4] Administered by the DSIR prior to its disbandment in 1965: Industrial Research And Development In The United Kingdom A Survey.