Permanent Secretary

The Permanent Secretary, in most departments officially titled the Permanent Under-secretary of State or PUS (although the full title is rarely used), is the most senior civil servant of a British Government ministry, charged with running the department on a day-to-day basis. The permanent secretary (known by other names in some departments; see below) is the non-political civil service head (and "accounting officer") or chief executive of a government department, as distinct from the political Secretary of State, to whom they report and who they advise.

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History

When Lord Grey took office as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom in 1830, Sir John Barrow was especially requested to continue serving as Secretary in his department (the Admiralty), starting the principle that senior civil servants stay in office on change of government and serve in a non-partisan manner. It was during Barrow's occupancy of the post that it was renamed “Permanent Secretary”.

Role

Permanent secretaries are the accounting officers for departments, meaning that they are answerable to Parliament for ensuring that the department spends money granted by Parliament appropriately. Permanent secretaries are thus frequently called for questioning by the Public Accounts Committee and Select Committees of the House of Commons. The permanent secretary usually chairs a department's management board which consists of executive members (other civil servants in the department) and non-executive directors.

Some larger departments also have a second permanent secretary who acts as deputy. In the early 1970s, there was a major reorganisation of Whitehall and many smaller ministries were amalgamated into larger departments. Following this re-organisation, virtually all departments had second permanent secretaries. However, this is no longer the case.

The overall head of the civil service is the Cabinet Secretary, currently Sir Jeremy Heywood, but the Head of the Home Civil Service is Sir Bob Kerslake. The holder of this office is distinct from other people of permanent secretary rank within the Cabinet Office.

Honours

By tradition, permanent secretaries are usually created a Knight or Dame Commander of the Order of the Bath at some point after their appointment or on retirement if not already holding the title (although the Permanent Secretary of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office will be created a Knight or Dame Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George instead). The most senior permanent secretaries, such as the Secretary of the Cabinet, may be created a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath, and even be given a life peerage after retirement. For salary comparison purposes, the permanent secretary is deemed broadly equivalent to a General and to a High Court judge.

Current UK permanent secretaries

There are currently 42 individuals in UK government departments with the grade of Permanent Secretary or Second Permanent Secretary; however, not all use these titles[1].

Department Jobholder Title
Cabinet Office
Unknown - yet to be replaced Chair, Joint Intelligence Committee
Unknown - yet to be replaced Permanent Secretary, 10 Downing Street
Sir Jeremy Heywood, KCB CVO Cabinet Secretary
Sir Bob Kerslake Head of the Home Civil Service and Permanent Secretary, DCLG
Ian Watmore Permanent Secretary, Cabinet Office[2] and Chief Operating Officer, Efficiency and Reform Group
Ivan Rogers Prime Minister's Adviser on Europe and Global Issues; Head of the European and Global Issues Secretariat[3]
Sir Kim Darroch, KCMG National Security Advisor
Sir Stephen Laws, KCB First Parliamentary Counsel
Department for Business, Innovation and Skills Martin Donnelly Permanent Secretary
Professor Sir John Beddington, CMG Her Majesty's Government Chief Scientific Adviser & Head of Government Office for Science
Department for Education Sir David Bell, KCB Permanent Secretary
Department for Communities and Local Government Sir Bob Kerslake Permanent Secretary
Department for Culture, Media and Sport Jonathan Stephens Permanent Secretary
Ministry of Defence Ursula Brennan Permanent Secretary
Jon Day Second Permanent Secretary
Bernard Gray Chief of Defence Materiel
Professor Sir Mark Welland, FRS FREng Chief Scientific Adviser, MoD
Department of Energy and Climate Change Moira Wallace Permanent Secretary
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Bronwyn Hill Permanent Secretary
Foreign and Commonwealth Office Simon Fraser, CMG Permanent Under-Secretary and Head of the Diplomatic Service
Department of Health Una O'Brien, CB Permanent Secretary
Professor Dame Sally Davies, DBE Chief Medical Officer for the United Kingdom and the National Health Service
Sir David Nicholson, KCB CBE Chief Executive, National Health Service (NHS) England
Home Office Dame Helen Ghosh, DCB Permanent Secretary
Department for International Development Mark Lowcock Permanent Secretary
Ministry of Justice Sir Suma Chakrabarti, KCB Permanent Secretary and Clerk of the Crown in Chancery
HM Revenue and Customs Mike Clasper Chairman
Dame Lesley Strathie, DCB Chief Executive
Dave Hartnett, CB Second Permanent Secretary for Tax
Department for Transport Lin Homer Permanent Secretary
HM Treasury Sir Nicholas Macpherson, KCB Permanent Secretary
Tom Scholar Second Permanent Secretary and Managing Director of Public Services and Growth
Department for Work and Pensions Robert Devereux Permanent Secretary
Darra Singh Second Permanent Secretary and Chief Executive, JobCentre Plus
Non-Ministerial Departments
Attorney General's Office Keir Starmer, QC Director of Public Prosecutions, Crown Prosecution Service
Paul Jenkins, QC Treasury Solicitor
Security Service (formerly MI5) Jonathan Evans Director-General
Secret Intelligence Service (formerly MI6) Sir John Sawers, KCMG Chief or 'C'
Government Communications Headquarters Iain Lobban Director
UK Statistics Authority Jil Matheson National Statistician
Devolved Administrations
Northern Ireland Executive Bruce Robinson Permanent Secretary and Head, Northern Ireland Civil Service
Scottish Government Sir Peter Housden, KCB Permanent Secretary
Welsh Government Dame Gillian Morgan, DBE Permanent Secretary

Outside the UK

In some countries of the Commonwealth of Nations, the popular term for the equivalent position is now “Principal Secretary”.

In Australia, the position is called the "Departmental Secretary", “Secretary of the Department”, or “Director-General of the Department” in some states and territories.

In Canada, the position is “Deputy Minister”.

In Germany, the equivalent office is called Staatssekretär (state secretary).

In Hong Kong, heads of policy bureaux, i.e., Secretaries, were filled by civil servants until their titles were changed to Permanent Secretaries in 2002, when political appointees filled the positions of secretaries under the second Tung Chee Hua government. Since August 2005, the Office of the Chief Executive also has a permanent secretary. His ranking is, however, lower than most other permanent secretaries according to the pay scale.

In the Republic of Ireland, the position of “Secretary-General” of a Department is almost identical to that of a Permanent Secretary in the British Civil Service, with the exception that since the introduction in the mid-1990s of the Strategic Management Initiative, the post is no longer permanent, but carries a seven year time limit. This coincided with the introduction of the change of title from the previous title of “Secretary”. Irish government departments may also have a “Second Secretary”, which is equivalent to the Second Permanent Secretary grade in the British Civil Service. See also Civil service of the Republic of Ireland.

In New Zealand, the civil service head of a ministry is ordinarily entitled “Chief Executive”, though in some cases (such as the New Zealand Security Intelligence Service) the title is “Director-General”. Organisations with enforcement powers, such as the Inland Revenue Department, the New Zealand Police, and the New Zealand Customs Service are headed by commissioners. Civil service heads are officially employed by the State Services Commission, further separating them from the politicians who hold ministerial positions.

In Singapore, Permanent Secretaries have to retire after a 10-year term even if they are younger than the official retirement age of 62 in Singapore, starting in 2000 when the Public Service Leadership scheme was introduced. This is to provide opportunities for younger officers from the Administrative Service – the elite arm of the Civil Service – to rise up the rank.

In Sri Lanka, the post of Permanent Secretary is the civil service head of the ministry. Normally referred to as Secretary, non civil service, political appointees are regularly appointed.

See also

References

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