Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom

The departments of the Government of the United Kingdom are the principal units through which it exercises executive authority. A department is composed of employed officials, known as civil servants, and is politically accountable through a minister. Most major departments are headed by a secretary of state, who sits in the cabinet, and typically supported by a team of junior ministers.

There are also a number of non-ministerial departments. These are headed by senior civil servants, but are linked to a ministerial department through whose ministers they are accountable to Parliament. Departments serve to implement the policies of Her Majesty's Government, regardless of the government's political composition.[1] As a consequence, officials within government departments are generally required to adhere to varying levels of political impartiality and neutrality.

Types

There are two types of government departments.

Ministerial departments are led politically by a government minister, normally a member of the cabinet, and cover matters that require direct political oversight. For most departments, the government minister in question is known as a secretary of state. He or she is generally supported by a team of junior ministers. The administrative management of a department is led by a senior civil servant, known as a permanent secretary. Subordinate to these ministerial departments are executive agencies. An executive agency has a degree of autonomy to perform an operational function and report to one or more specific government departments, which will set the funding and strategic policy for the agency. At "arm's length" from a parent or sponsor department there can be several non-departmental public bodies (NDPBs), known colloquially as quasi-autonomous non-governmental organisations (Quangos).

Non-ministerial departments generally cover matters for which direct political oversight is judged unnecessary or inappropriate. They are headed by senior civil servants. Some fulfil a regulatory or inspection function, and their status is therefore intended to protect them from political interference. Some are headed by Permanent Secretaries or Second Permanent Secretaries.

List

Ministerial departments

Name	Establishment	Political Leader	Head Civil Servant	Headquarters	Size	Budget
Attorney General's Office (AGO)	1315	Attorney General for England and Wales Rt Hon Suella Braverman MP	Director General Rowena Collins Rice	20 Victoria Street, London	????	£600 million
Cabinet Office (CO)	December 1916	Minister for the Cabinet Office Rt Hon Michael Gove MP	Permanent Secretary Alex Chisholm	70 Whitehall, London	1668	£2,100 million
Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS)	14 July 2016	Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Rt Hon Kwasi Kwarteng MP	Permanent Secretary Sarah Munby	1 Victoria Street, London	3,000	£13,800 million
Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS)	3 May 1997	Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Rt Hon Oliver Dowden CBE MP	Permanent Secretary Sarah Healey	100 Parliament Street, London	900	£1,400 million
Department for Education (DfE)	10 May 2010	Secretary of State for Education Rt Hon Gavin Williamson MP	Permanent Secretary Jonathan Slater	Sanctuary Buildings, Great Smith Street, London	3,885	£58,200 million
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA)	8 June 2001	Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Rt Hon George Eustice MP	Permanent Secretary Tamara Finkelstein	Nobel House, 17 Smith Square, London	3,500	£2,200 million
Department for International Trade (DIT)	14 July 2016	Secretary of State for International Trade & President of the Board of Trade Rt Hon Liz Truss MP	Permanent Secretary Antonia Romeo	3 Whitehall Place, London	????	???
Department for Transport (DfT)	29 May 2002	Secretary of State for Transport Rt Hon Grant Shapps MP	Permanent Secretary Bernadette Kelly CB	Great Minster House, 33 Horseferry Road, London	18,245	£5,300 million
Department for Work and Pensions (DWP)	8 June 2001	Secretary of State for Work and Pensions Rt Hon Dr Thérèse Coffey MP	Permanent Secretary Peter Schofield CB	Caxton House, Tothill, London	84,718	£176,300 million
Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC)	25 July 1988	Secretary of State for Health and Social Care Rt Hon Matt Hancock MP	Permanent Secretary Sir Chris Wormald KCB	39 Victoria Street, London	2,160	£116,400 million
Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO)	17 October 1968	Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs Rt Hon Dominic Raab MP	Permanent Secretary Sir Philip Barton KCMG OBE	King Charles Street, London	12,826	£2,500 million
HM Treasury (HMT)	1126[lower-alpha 1]	Chancellor of the Exchequer Rt Hon Rishi Sunak MP	Permanent Secretary to the Treasury Sir Thomas Scholar KCB	1 Horse Guards Road, London	1169	£3,800 million
Home Office (HO)	2 March 1782	Secretary of State for the Home Department Rt Hon Priti Patel MP	Permanent Secretary Sir Philip Rutnam KCB	2 Marsham Street, London	27,546	£8,900 million
Ministry of Defence (MOD)	1 April 1964	Secretary of State for Defence Rt Hon Ben Wallace MP	Permanent Secretary Stephen Lovegrove CB	Main Building, Whitehall, London	56,860	£46,000 million
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG)	6 May 2006	Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government Rt Hon Robert Jenrick MP	Permanent Secretary Melanie Dawes CB	2 Marsham Street, London	????	£28,200 million
Ministry of Justice (MoJ)	9 May 2007	Secretary of State for Justice & Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain Rt Hon Robert Buckland QC MP	Permanent Secretary & Clerk of the Crown in Chancery Sir Richard Heaton KCB	102 Petty France, London	>77,000	£8,200 million
Northern Ireland Office (NIO)	24 March 1972	Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Rt Hon Brandon Lewis CBE MP	Permanent Secretary Sir Jonathan Stephens KCB	Stormont House, Stormont Estate, Belfast 1 Horse Guards Road, London	167	£23 million
Office of the Advocate General for Scotland	19 May 1999	Her Majesty's Advocate General for Scotland Rt Hon The Lord Stewart of Dirleton QC	Director Neil Taylor	Victoria Quay, Edinburgh	????	????
Office of the Leader of the House of Commons	4 April 1721	Leader of the House of Commons & Lord President of the Council Rt Hon Jacob Rees-Mogg MP		Palace of Westminster, London	????	????
Office of the Leader of the House of Lords	4 April 1721	Leader of the House of Lords & Lord Privy Seal Rt Hon The Baroness Evans of Bowes Park MBE PC		1 Horseguards Road, London	????	????
Office of the Secretary of State for Scotland	13 June 2003	Secretary of State for Scotland Rt Hon Alister Jack MP	Director Gillian McGregor CBE	Dover House, Whitehall, London	????	£8 million
Office of the Secretary of State for Wales	1 July 1999	Secretary of State for Wales Rt Hon Simon Hart MP	Director Glynne Jones CBE	Gwydyr House, Whitehall, London	52	£4.7 million
Export Credits Guarantee Department (ECGD)	1919	Secretary of State for International Trade & President of the Board of Trade Rt Hon Liz Truss MP	Chief Executive Louis Taylor	1 Horseguards Road, Whitehall, London	????	????

Note

This is the date of the establishment of the department; the position of treasurer (now the Lords Commissioners of the Treasury) is attested to have existed from 1066.[2][3][4][5]

Non-ministerial departments

List of executive agencies reporting to each department of the British government

References

"How government works". gov.uk. British Government. Retrieved 12 January 2016.
C. Warren Hollister - The Origins of the English Treasury The English Historical Review Vol. 93, No. 367 (Apr., 1978) Retrieved 2012-06-25
Open Domesday Retrieved 2012-06-25
HM Treasury:History
D C Douglas - William the Conqueror: The Norman Impact Upon England University of California Press, 1 May 1967 ISBN 0520003500 Retrieved 2012-06-25

External links

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[6] This is the date of the establishment of the department; the position of treasurer (now the Lords Commissioners of the Treasury) is attested to have existed from 1066.[2][3][4][5]

[BRGOVehw-1] "How government works". gov.uk. British Government. Retrieved 12 January 2016.

[2] C. Warren Hollister - The Origins of the English Treasury The English Historical Review Vol. 93, No. 367 (Apr., 1978) Retrieved 2012-06-25

[3] Open Domesday Retrieved 2012-06-25

[4] HM Treasury:History

[5] D C Douglas - William the Conqueror: The Norman Impact Upon England University of California Press, 1 May 1967 ISBN 0520003500 Retrieved 2012-06-25