Permanent Secretary
The Permanent Secretary, in most departments officially titled the Permanent Under-Secretary of State (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 is usually created a Knight or Dame Commander of the Order of the Bath if not already holding the title. The Permanent Secretary is the Accounting Officer of the Department, which means that he or she is 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 of the House of Commons.
Some larger departments also have a Second Permanent Secretary who acts as deputy, though this is increasingly rare.
The most famous (albeit fictional) Permanent Secretary is probably Sir Humphrey Appleby of the BBC TV series Yes, Minister.
Current Permanent Secretaries
There are currently 25 individuals in UK government departments with the grade of Permanent Secretary and 15 with the grade of Second Permanent Secretary. However, not all have these titles.
The following departments are headed by officials who actually hold the title of Permanent Secretary:
- Cabinet Office (also has a Second Permanent Secretary)
- Department for Constitutional Affairs (also has a Second Permanent Secretary)
- Department for Culture, Media and Sport
- Ministry of Defence (also has a Second Permanent Secretary)
- Office of the Deputy Prime Minister
- Department for Education and Skills
- Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
- Foreign and Commonwealth Office
- Department of Health
- Home Office (also has a Second Permanent Secretary)
- Department for International Development
- Scottish Executive
- Department of Trade and Industry
- Department for Transport
- Her Majesty's Treasury (also has a Second Permanent Secretary)
- National Assembly for Wales
- Department for Work and Pensions
The following departments are headed by individuals on the same grade who hold different titles:
- Government Communications Headquarters
- Office for National Statistics
- Parliamentary Counsel Office
- HM Revenue and Customs
- Secret Intelligence Service (MI6)
- Security Service (MI5)
- Treasury Solicitor's Department
- UK Trade and Investment
The following departments of the Northern Ireland Executive are also headed by Permanent Secretaries:
- Department of Agriculture and Rural Development
- Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure
- Department of Education
- Department for Employment and Learning
- Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment
- Department of the Environment
- Department of Finance and Personnel (also has a Second Permanent Secretary)
- Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister
- Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety
- Department for Regional Development
- Department for Social Development