Permanent secretary (United Kingdom)

A permanent secretary, known formally in some government departments as the permanent under-secretary of state, is the most senior civil servant of a ministry in the United Kingdom, charged with running the department on a day-to-day basis. Permanent secretaries are appointed under a scheme in which the prime minister has the final say in the recruitment process; since 2015, the PM 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 His 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]

Similar offices, often employing different terms, exist in many other Westminster-style systems and in some other governments. In Australia, New Zealand and India, departmental (or ministry) secretary is the analogous role; in Canada the equivalent is deputy minister.

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.[4][5]

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 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 Dame Antonia Romeo; the officeholder is normally also the Head of the 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.

Honours

Permanent secretaries are usually created Knights/Dames 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 Permanent Secretaries of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office are usually created Knights/Dames Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George instead). The most senior permanent secretaries, such as the Cabinet Secretary, may be created Knights/Dames 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.[6] Some departments are currently led by persons that do not hold the rank of Permanent Secretary or do not have a civil service executive at all; these have not been included.

Permanent secretaries in the UK government
Department Name Title(s) Start
Ministerial departments
Cabinet Office Dame Antonia Romeo Cabinet Secretary
Head of the Civil Service		 19 February 2026
Cat Little[7] Permanent Secretary
Chief Operating Officer of the Civil Service		 2 April 2024
Michael Ellam[8] Second Permanent Secretary for European Union and International Economic Affairs 13 January 2025
Clive Maxwell Second Permanent Secretary
Chief Executive Officer of the OneGov Delivery Agency		 23 July 2026
Jessica de Mounteney[9] First Parliamentary Counsel 1 May 2024
Adrian Bird[10] Chair of the Joint Intelligence Committee 3 July 2026
Jonathan Powell National Security Adviser 2 December 2024
David Dinsmore[11] Director of Communications 30 July 2025
Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade Amanda Brooks
 Interim Permanent Secretary 6 April 2026
Dame Angela McLean[12] Government Chief Scientific Adviser 1 April 2023
Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Susannah Storey Permanent Secretary 10 July 2023
Department for Education Susan Acland-Hood[13] Permanent Secretary 1 September 2020
Department for Energy Security and Net Zero Jonathan Brearley[14] Permanent Secretary 6 March 2026
Vacant Second Permanent Secretary 23 July 2026
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Paul Kissack[15] Permanent Secretary 13 October 2025
Nick Joicey Second Permanent Secretary
Chief Operating Officer		 17 July 2023
On leave since January 2025
Department for Transport Jo Shanmugalingam[16] Permanent Secretary 1 July 2025
Vacant Second Permanent Secretary 1 July 2025
Department for Work and Pensions Dame Sarah Healey Permanent Secretary 1 August 2026
Department of Health and Social Care Samantha Jones Permanent Secretary April 2025
Matthew Style Interim Second Permanent Secretary
Chief Operating Officer		 March 2026
Sir Chris Whitty Chief Medical Officer for England 1 October 2019
Susan Hopkins Chief Executive Officer of the UK Health Security Agency September 2025
Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office Nick Dyer
 Interim Permanent Secretary 16 April 2026
Nick Dyer Second Permanent Secretary
Head of His Majesty's Diplomatic Service		 3 July 2023
HM Treasury James Bowler Permanent Secretary 17 October 2022
Beth Russell[17] Second Permanent Secretary for Darlington Economic Campus 17 October 2022
Jim O'Neil[17] Second Permanent Secretary 14 May 2025
Fiona Dunsire Government Actuary 1 November 2023
Home Office Gareth Davies[18] Permanent Secretary 6 April 2026
Simon Ridley[19] Second Permanent Secretary for the Migration and Borders System 18 April 2023
Ministry of Defence Jeremy Pocklington Permanent Secretary 31 October 2025
Vacant Chief Executive Officer of Defence Equipment and Support 1 April 2026
Maddy McTernan Chief of Defence Nuclear 6 September 2023
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government Will Garton Interim Permanent Secretary 15 July 2026
Ministry of Justice Jo Farrar[20] Permanent Secretary
Clerk of the Crown in Chancery		 1 July 2025
Clara Swinson Second Permanent Secretary April 2026
Northern Ireland Office Julie Harrison[21] Permanent Secretary 6 September 2023
Non-ministerial departments and non-departmental public bodies
Crown Prosecution Service Stephen Parkinson Director of Public Prosecutions 1 November 2023
Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) Anne Keast-Butler[22] Director of the Government Communications Headquarters 12 May 2023
Government Legal Department Douglas Wilson[23] His Majesty's Procurator General
Treasury Solicitor
Head of the Government Legal Profession		 13 April 2026
HM Revenue and Customs John-Paul Marks[24] First Permanent Secretary
Chief Executive		 6 April 2025
Angela MacDonald[25] Second Permanent Secretary
Deputy Chief Executive
Tax Assurance Commissioner		 1 August 2020
National Crime Agency Graeme Biggar[26] Director General of the National Crime Agency 5 October 2021
Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills Sir Martyn Oliver His Majesty's Chief Inspector 1 January 2024
Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) Blaise Metreweli Chief of the Secret Intelligence Service 1 October 2025
Security Service (MI5) Sir Ken McCallum[27] Director General of the Security Service 25 April 2020
Office for National Statistics vacant National Statistician December 2025
Darren Tierney[28] Permanent Secretary 5 August 2025
Devolved governments
Northern Ireland Executive Jayne Brady[29] Head of the Northern Ireland Civil Service 1 September 2021
Scottish Government Joe Griffin[30] Permanent Secretary 6 April 2025
Welsh Government Andrew Goodall[31] Permanent Secretary 9 September 2021

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. 7 May 2015. 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. ↑ Middleton, Charles R. (1974). "John Backhouse and the Origins of the Permanent Undersecretaryship for Foreign Affairs: 1828-1842". Journal of British Studies. 13 (2): 24–45. doi:10.1086/385657. ISSN 0021-9371. JSTOR 175086. S2CID 162648974.
  5. ↑ FCDO Historians (1 April 2002). "The Permanent Under-Secretary of State: A Brief History of the Office and its Holders". Retrieved 5 September 2023.
  6. ↑ https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2025-04-28/HL6915/
  7. ↑ "The Cabinet Secretary has appointed Cat Little as the new Permanent Secretary to the Cabinet Office". GOV.UK. 22 February 2024. Retrieved 7 May 2024.
  8. ↑ "New Second Permanent Secretary Appointed to the Cabinet Office". GOV.UK. 23 January 2025. Retrieved 12 February 2025.
  9. ↑ "New First Parliamentary Counsel Appointed". GOV.UK. Retrieved 2 July 2024.
  10. ↑ "Adrian Bird CB". GOV.UK. Retrieved 26 July 2026.
  11. ↑ "Permanent Secretary Director of Communications Appointed". GOV.UK. 30 July 2025. Retrieved 2 September 2025.
  12. ↑ "Professor Dame Angela McLean". GOV.UK. Retrieved 10 July 2023.
  13. ↑ "Susan Acland-Hood made Acting Permanent Secretary at the Department for Education". gov.uk. HM Government. Retrieved 1 September 2020.
  14. ↑ "Our Management". GOV.UK. 6 March 2026. Retrieved 4 April 2026.
  15. ↑ "Permanent Secretary Appointed at Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs". GOV.UK.
  16. ↑ "Jo Shanmugalingam". GOV.UK. 6 September 2025. Retrieved 6 September 2025.
  17. 1 2 "New Second Permanent Secretary to the Treasury appointed". GOV.UK. Retrieved 17 June 2026.
  18. ↑ "Gareth Davies Appointed as New Home Office Permanent Secretary". GOV.UK. Retrieved 4 April 2026.
  19. ↑ "Simon Ridley". GOV.UK. Retrieved 10 July 2023.
  20. ↑ Ministry of Justice , accessed on 6 July 2025.
  21. ↑ "Ms Julie Harrison". GOV.UK. Retrieved 18 November 2023.
  22. ↑ "New Director GCHQ announced". GOV.UK. 11 April 2023. Retrieved 14 June 2023.
  23. ↑ "Susanna McGibbon appointed as Treasury Solicitor, HM Procurator General and Permanent Secretary, Government Legal Department". GOV.UK. 18 February 2021. Retrieved 10 March 2021.
  24. ↑ "New Permanent Secretary and Chief Executive at HM Revenue and Customs". Accountancy Daily. Retrieved 19 May 2025.
  25. ↑ "Angela MacDonald". GOV.UK. Retrieved 10 July 2023.
  26. ↑ "Graeme Biggar appointed Director General of the National Crime Agency". National Crime Agency. 1 October 2021. Retrieved 7 October 2021.
  27. ↑ "New Director General of MI5 appointed". MI5.GOV.UK. 30 March 2020. Retrieved 29 June 2020.
  28. ↑ "Permanent Secretary Office for National Statistics Appointed". statisticsauthority.gov.uk. Retrieved 8 August 2025.
  29. ↑ "New Head of the Civil Service announced". The Executive Office. 10 June 2021. Retrieved 10 July 2023.
  30. ↑ "Permanent Secretary". www.gov.scot.
  31. ↑ "New Permanent Secretary to the Welsh Government". GOV.UK. Retrieved 10 July 2023.
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