Permanent Secretary (United Kingdom)

A permanent under-secretary of state, known informally as a permanent secretary, is the most senior civil servant of a ministry in the United Kingdom, charged with running the department on a day-to-day basis. Similar offices, often employing different terms, exist in many other Westminster-style systems and in some other governments. In the United States, the equivalent position is a Deputy Secretary of an executive department, though British permanent secretaries are career civil servants (whereas Deputy Secretaries are political appointees).

Not to be confused with Parliamentary Secretary of State.

Permanent secretaries are appointed under a scheme in which the prime minister has the final say in the recruitment process; the PM now chooses directly from a list created by the Civil Service Commissioners, rather than only having a veto over the Commissioners' preferred candidate.[1][2]

Some permanent secretaries do not hold the position of permanent secretary, but still hold that grade. The Transparency of Lobbying, Non-Party Campaigning and Trade Union Administration Act 2014 explains that a permanent secretary, for the purposes of section 2 of that Act, is a person serving in government in any of the following positions: Permanent Secretary, Second Permanent Secretary, Cabinet Secretary, Chief Executive of Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs, Chief Medical Officer, Director of Public Prosecutions, First Parliamentary Counsel, Government Chief Scientific Adviser, Head of the Civil Service or Prime Minister's Adviser for Europe and Global Issues.[3]

History

When Lord Grey took office as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom in 1830, 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

The Permanent Secretary, who in some, but not all, Government departments is known formally as the Permanent Under-Secretary of State, is the accounting officer for a department, meaning that they are answerable to parliament for ensuring that the department appropriately spends money granted by parliament. 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. In the 1970s the permanent secretary to Tony Benn when he was Secretary of State for Industry was Peter Carey. After Benn spent government money on worker cooperatives, notably a motorbike company (Meriden Motorcycle Co-operative), Carey went before the Public Accounts Committee and expressed the opinion that his minister's expenditure had been ultra vires. Benn was soon moved to the Department of Energy, while Carey received a knighthood in the following honours list.

Some larger departments also have a second permanent secretary who acts as deputy. In the early 1970s, in a major reorganisation of Whitehall, many smaller ministries were amalgamated into larger departments. Following this reorganisation, virtually all departments had second permanent secretaries for a time, though this is no longer as common.

The most senior civil servant is the Cabinet Secretary, currently Simon Case; he is normally also the Head of the Home Civil Service. The holder of this office is distinct from other officials of permanent secretary rank within the Cabinet Office. By convention, the Prime Minister is Minister for the Civil Service and as such makes regulations regarding the service and has authority over it. These duties are delegated to the Minister for the Cabinet Office.

Honors

Permanent secretaries are usually created a Knight or Dame Commander of the Order of the Bath after five or more years of service in the grade 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 permanent secretaries

Below is a list of the individuals in the UK government at the grade of permanent secretary.

Permanent secretaries in the UK government
Department Individual Position
Ministerial departments
Cabinet Office Simon Case, CVO[4] Cabinet Secretary and Head of the Home Civil Service
Alex Chisholm[5] Cabinet Office Permanent Secretary and Chief Operating Officer of the Civil Service
Dame Elizabeth Gardiner, DCB, QC[6] First Parliamentary Counsel
Sir Simon Gass, KCMG, CVO[7] Chair, Joint Intelligence Committee
Sir Stephen Lovegrove, KCB National Security Adviser
Sue Gray Second Permanent Secretary (Union and Constitution)
Vacant Government Chief Digital Officer
Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Sarah Munby Permanent Secretary
Sir Patrick Vallance[8] Government Chief Scientific Adviser
Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Sarah Healey, CB[9] Permanent Secretary
Department for Education Susan Acland-Hood[10] Permanent Secretary
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Tamara Finkelstein, CB[11] Permanent Secretary
Department for International Trade James Bowler CB Permanent Secretary
Crawford Falconer[12] Second Permanent Secretary and Chief Trade Negotiation Adviser
Department for Transport Bernadette Kelly, CB[13] Permanent Secretary
Department for Work and Pensions Peter Schofield, CB[14] Permanent Secretary
Department of Health and Social Care Sir Chris Wormald, KCB[15] Permanent Secretary
Shona Dunn Second Permanent Secretary
Sir Chris Whitty, CB[16] Chief Medical Officer for England
Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office Sir Philip Barton, KCMG, OBE Permanent Secretary and Head of Her Majesty's Diplomatic Service
Lindsay Croisdale-Appleby, CMG Ambassador to the European Union
Dame Karen Pierce, DCMG[17] Ambassador to the United States
Home Office Matthew Rycroft, CBE[18] Permanent Under-Secretary of State at the Home Office
Tricia Hayes Second Permanent Secretary
HM Treasury Sir Tom Scholar, KCB[19] Permanent Secretary to the Treasury
Charles Roxburgh[20] Second Permanent Secretary
Martin Clarke[21] Government Actuary
Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Jeremy Pocklington[22] Permanent Secretary
Sue Gray Permanent Secretary for Levelling Up
Ministry of Defence David Williams Permanent Under-Secretary of State for Defence
Air Marshal Sir Simon Bollom, KBE, CB[23] Chief Executive, Defence Equipment and Support (DE&S)
Ministry of Justice Antonia Romeo Permanent Secretary and Clerk of the Crown in Chancery
Jo Farrar[24] Second Permanent Secretary
Northern Ireland Office Madeleine Alessandri, CMG Permanent Secretary
Non-ministerial departments and non-departmental public bodies
Crown Prosecution Service Max Hill, QC[25] Director of Public Prosecutions
Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) Sir Jeremy Fleming, KCMG, CB[26] Director of the Government Communications Headquarters
Government Legal Department Susanna McGibbon[27] Her Majesty's Procurator General, Treasury Solicitor and Head of the Government Legal Service
HM Revenue and Customs Jim Harra, CB[28] First Permanent Secretary and Chief Executive
Angela MacDonald Deputy Chief Executive and Second Permanent Secretary, Tax Assurance Commissioner
National Crime Agency Dame Lynne Owens, DCB, CBE, QPM[29] Director-General of the National Crime Agency
Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills Amanda Spielman[30] Her Majesty's Chief Inspector
Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) Richard Moore, CMG[31] Chief of the Secret Intelligence Service
Security Service (MI5) Ken McCallum[32] Director General of the Security Service
UK Statistics Authority Professor Sir Ian Diamond, CB[33] National Statistician
Devolved governments
Northern Ireland Executive Vacant Permanent Secretary and Head of the Northern Ireland Civil Service
Scottish Government John-Paul Marks[34] Permanent Secretary
Welsh Government Dr Andrew Goodall CBE Permanent Secretary

See also

References
  1. "New Permanent Secretary for the Department for Communities and Local Government". Department for Communities and Local Government. 8 January 2015. Retrieved 4 November 2015.
  2. "Lying in wait: who will be the permanent secretaries meeting the new ministers in 2015?". Institute for Government. Retrieved 4 November 2015.
  3. Transparency of Lobbying, Non-Party Campaigning and Trade Union Administration Act 2014 Section 2(6); Schedule 1 Section 11(1).
  4. "Simon Case appointed as Cabinet Secretary and Head of the Civil Service". GOV.UK.
  5. "New Permanent Secretary at the Cabinet Office and Chief Operating Officer for the Civil Service". GOV.UK. Retrieved 2020-04-21.
  6. "First Parliamentary Counsel appointed: Elizabeth Gardiner". GOV.UK. 2015-11-20. Retrieved 2019-06-24.
  7. "Joint Intelligence Committee Chair appointed: Sir Simon Gass". GOV.UK. 2019-06-18. Retrieved 2019-06-24.
  8. "Appointment of Dr Patrick Vallance as government Chief Scientific Adviser". UK Government. 8 November 2017. Retrieved 7 September 2018.
  9. "Appointment of new Permanent Secretary at DCMS". GOV.UK. 2019-03-11. Retrieved 2019-06-24.
  10. "Susan Acland-Hood made Acting Permanent Secretary at the Department for Education". gov.uk. HM Government. Retrieved 1 September 2020.
  11. "Appointment of new Permanent Secretary at Defra". GOV.UK. 2019-06-19. Retrieved 2019-06-24.
  12. "DIT appoints Crawford Falconer as new Chief Trade Negotiation Adviser". GOV.UK. 2017-06-16. Retrieved 2019-06-24.
  13. "New Permanent Secretary at the Department for Transport". GOV.UK. 2017-04-18. Retrieved 2019-06-24.
  14. "Appointment of Peter Schofield as Permanent Secretary at the Department for Work and Pensions". GOV.UK. 2018-01-12. Retrieved 2019-06-24.
  15. "New Permanent Secretary for the Department of Health". GOV.UK. 2016-01-15. Retrieved 2019-06-24.
  16. "New chief medical officer appointed". GOV.UK. 2019-06-07. Retrieved 2019-06-24.
  17. "Karen Pierce DCMG". GOV.UK. 2017-01-04. Retrieved 2019-06-24.
  18. "Matthew Rycroft CBE appointed Permanent Secretary at the Home Office". GOV.UK. Retrieved 2020-04-21.
  19. "New Permanent Secretary to the Treasury announced". GOV.UK. 2016-03-11. Retrieved 2019-06-24.
  20. "New Second Permanent Secretary to the Treasury appointed". GOV.UK. 2016-07-04. Retrieved 2019-06-24.
  21. "Martin Clarke announced as new Government Actuary". GOV.UK. 2014-03-05. Retrieved 2019-06-24.
  22. "Latest civil service & public affairs moves — April 6 | Civil Service World". www.civilserviceworld.com. Retrieved 2020-04-21.
  23. "Sir Simon Bollom appointed Chief Executive of Defence Equipment and Support". GOV.UK. 2018-04-27. Retrieved 2019-06-24.
  24. "Appointment of Jo Farrar as Second Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Justice". GOV.UK. Retrieved 2021-03-16.
  25. "Max Hill QC joins the CPS as Director of Public Prosecutions". GOV.UK. 2018-11-01. Retrieved 2019-06-24.
  26. "Foreign Secretary appoints new GCHQ Director". GOV.UK. 2017-03-20. Retrieved 2019-06-24.
  27. "Susanna McGibbon appointed as Treasury Solicitor, HM Procurator General and Permanent Secretary, Government Legal Department". GOV.UK. 2021-02-18. Retrieved 2021-03-10.
  28. "Jim Harra takes top job at HMRC | Accountancy Daily". www.accountancydaily.co. Retrieved 2020-02-03.
  29. "Director General (NCA): Lynne Owens CBE QPM MA - National Crime Agency". nationalcrimeagency.gov.uk.
  30. "Letter from Nicky Morgan: appointment of Amanda Spielman as HMCI". GOV.UK. 2016-07-07. Retrieved 2019-06-24.
  31. "Appointment of the new Chief of the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6)". GOV.UK. 2014-10-03. Retrieved 2019-06-24.
  32. "New Director General of MI5 appointed". MI5.GOV.UK. 2020-03-30. Retrieved 2020-06-29.
  33. "About the national statistician". statisticsauthority.gov.uk. Retrieved 2020-06-16.
  34. "New Permanent Secretary".
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