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, 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. Source: Wikipedia (en)