Cabinet Secretary (United Kingdom)

Last updated

Cabinet Secretary
Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom (HM Government) (2022).svg
Royal Arms as used by His Majesty's Government
Simon Case (cropped).jpg
Incumbent
Simon Case CVO
since 9 September 2020
Cabinet Office
Style The Right Honourable
(UK and the Commonwealth)
Member of Privy Council
Reports to Prime Minister
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
Appointer Prime Minister
Inaugural holder Sir Maurice Hankey
Formation1916

The Cabinet Secretary is the most senior civil servant in the United Kingdom and is based in the Cabinet Office. The person in this role acts as the senior policy adviser to the Prime Minister and Cabinet, and as the Secretary to the Cabinet is responsible to all ministers for the efficient running of government. The role is currently occupied by Simon Case. [1]

Contents

Origin

The position of Cabinet Secretary was created in 1916 for Sir Maurice Hankey, when the existing secretariat of the Committee of Imperial Defence, headed by Hankey, became secretariat to a newly organised War Cabinet. [2]

Responsibilities

Civil Service

Since 1981 [3] (except for a period 2011–2014), the position of cabinet secretary has been combined with the role of Head of the Home Civil Service. The cabinet secretary used to also hold the position of the permanent secretary of the Cabinet Office, but this has been passed to the chief executive of the civil service. The first means that the cabinet secretary is responsible for all the civil servants of the various departments within government (except the Foreign Office), chairing the Permanent Secretaries Management Group (PSMG) which is the principal governing body of the civil service. The second means that the cabinet secretary is responsible for leading the government department that provides administrative support to the prime minister and Cabinet. The post is appointed by the prime minister with the advice of the out-going cabinet secretary and the First Civil Service Commissioner. [4]

Cabinet

The responsibilities of the job vary from time to time and depend very much on the personal qualities of both the prime minister and cabinet secretary of the day. In most cases the true influence of the cabinet secretary extends far beyond administrative matters, and reaches to the very heart of the decision-making process. For instance, the cabinet secretary is responsible for administering the Ministerial Code which governs the conduct of ministers (also known as the Rule Book and formerly Questions of Procedure for Ministers). In this duty the cabinet secretary may be asked to investigate leaks within government, and enforce Cabinet discipline. Unusually in a democracy, this gives the unelected cabinet secretary some authority over elected ministers (a situation satirised in the BBC sitcom Yes, Prime Minister ), although the constitutional authority of the code is somewhat ambiguous.

Intelligence

The cabinet secretary is responsible for overseeing the intelligence services and their relationship to the government, though since 2002 this responsibility has been delegated to a full-time role (initially as Security and Intelligence Co-ordinator, now the National Security Adviser), with the cabinet secretary focussing on civil service reforms to help deliver the government's policy programme.

2011 restructuring

It was announced on 11 October 2011 that Gus O'Donnell would retire at the end of 2011, and following this the three roles then performed by the cabinet secretary would be split: the cabinet secretary would provide policy advice to the prime minister and Cabinet; the Head of the Civil Service would provide leadership for the whole civil service; and the permanent secretary would oversee the Cabinet Office. [5] It was announced later that the officeholders would be Jeremy Heywood as cabinet secretary, Bob Kerslake as Head of the Civil Service, and Ian Watmore as permanent secretary at the Cabinet Office. [6]

In July 2014 it was announced that Kerslake would step down and Heywood would take the title of head of the Civil Service with a chief executive of the Civil Service reporting to Heywood and holding Watmore's post at the Cabinet Office. Heywood's retirement on health grounds was announced on 24 October 2018, and he was replaced by Mark Sedwill.

List of cabinet secretaries

#PortraitName
(birth–death)
Term of officeConcurrent office(s)Peerage
1 Lord ankey.jpg Sir Maurice Hankey
(1877–1963)
19161938 Clerk of the Privy Council Baron Hankey in 1939
2 Sir Edward Bridges
(1892–1969)
19381946Head of the Home Civil Service
Permanent Secretary to the Treasury
Baron Bridges in 1957
3 Sir Norman Brook
(1902–1967)
19471962Head of the Home Civil Service
Permanent Secretary to the Treasury
Baron Normanbrook in 1962
4 No image.svg Sir Burke Trend
(1914–1987)
19631972 Baron Trend in 1974 for life
5 Sir John Hunt
(1919–2008)
19731979 Baron Hunt of Tanworth in 1980 for life
6 Official portrait of Lord Armstrong of Ilminster crop 2.jpg Sir Robert Armstrong
(1927–2020)
19791987Head of the Home Civil Service Baron Armstrong of Ilminster in 1988 for life
7 Official portrait of Lord Butler of Brockwell crop 2.jpg Sir Robin Butler
(b. 1938)
19881998Head of the Home Civil Service Baron Butler of Brockwell in 1998 for life
8 Official portrait of Lord Wilson of Dinton crop 2, 2019.jpg Sir Richard Wilson
(b. 1942)
19982002Head of the Home Civil Service Baron Wilson of Dinton in 2002 for life
9 Official portrait of Lord Turnbull crop 2, 2019.jpg Sir Andrew Turnbull
(b. 1945)
1 September 20021 March 2005 Baron Turnbull in 2005 for life
10 Official portrait of Lord O'Donnell crop 2, 2021.jpg Sir Gus O'Donnell
(b. 1952)
1 March 200531 December 2011Head of the Home Civil Service Baron O'Donnell in 2012 for life
11 Sir Jeremy Heywood, Cabinet Secretary, January 2015 (cropped).jpg Sir Jeremy Heywood
(1961–2018)
1 January 201224 October 2018Head of the Home Civil Service Baron Heywood of Whitehall in 2018 for life
12 Mark Sedwill (cropped).jpg Sir Mark Sedwill
(b. 1964)
24 October 20189 September 2020Head of the Home Civil Service Baron Sedwill in 2020 for life
13 Simon Case (cropped).jpg Simon Case
(b. 1978)
9 September 2020Head of the Home Civil Service

Timeline of cabinet secretaries

Simon CaseMark SedwillJeremy HeywoodGus O'DonnellAndrew Turnbull, Baron TurnbullRichard Wilson, Baron Wilson of DintonRobin ButlerRobert Armstrong, Baron Armstrong of IlminsterJohn Hunt, Baron Hunt of TanworthBurke TrendNorman BrookEdward Bridges, 1st Baron BridgesMaurice HankeyCabinet Secretary (United Kingdom)

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Civil Service (United Kingdom)</span> Permanent bureaucracy of the British state

His Majesty's Home Civil Service, also known as His Majesty's Civil Service, the Home Civil Service, or colloquially as the Civil Service, is the permanent bureaucracy or secretariat of Crown employees that supports His Majesty's Government, which is led by a cabinet of ministers chosen by the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, as well as two of the three devolved administrations: the Scottish Government and the Welsh Government, but not the Northern Ireland Executive.

A cabinet secretary is usually a senior official who provides services and advice to a cabinet of ministers as part of the Cabinet Office. In many countries, the position can have considerably wider functions and powers, including general responsibility for the entire civil service.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Privy Council Office (Canada)</span>

The Privy Council Office is the central agency of the Government of Canada which acts as the secretariat to the Cabinet of Canada – a committee of the King's Privy Council for Canada – and provides non-partisan advice and support to the Canadian ministry, as well as leadership, coordination, and support to the departments and agencies of government.

The clerk of the Privy Council is the professional head of the Public Service of Canada. As the deputy minister for the Privy Council Office, the clerk is the senior civil servant in the Government of Canada and serves as the secretary to the Cabinet.

A permanent secretary is the most senior civil servant of a department or ministry charged with running the department or ministry's day-to-day activities. Permanent secretaries are the non-political civil service chief executives of government departments or ministries, who generally hold their position for a number of years at a ministry as distinct from the changing political secretaries of state to whom they report and provide advice. The role originated in the civil service of the United Kingdom and has been adopted in several Commonwealth countries as well as other countries influenced by the Westminster system.

The Committee of Imperial Defence was an important ad hoc part of the Government of the United Kingdom and the British Empire from just after the Second Boer War until the start of the Second World War. It was responsible for research, and some co-ordination, on issues of military strategy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gus O'Donnell</span> Former British senior civil servant and economist

Augustine Thomas O'Donnell, Baron O'Donnell, is a former British senior civil servant and economist, who between 2005 and 2011 served as the Cabinet Secretary, the highest official in the British Civil Service.

A private secretary (PS) is a civil servant in a governmental department or ministry, responsible to a secretary of state or minister; or a public servant in a royal household, responsible to a member of the royal family.

The Prime Minister's Delivery Unit (PMDU) was a center of government institution in the United Kingdom, providing support to the Prime Minister on public service delivery. It was created in June 2001 to monitor progress on and strengthen the British government's capacity to deliver on key campaign priorities of Prime Minister Tony Blair's second-term government: education, health, crime and transport. The Unit reported to the Prime Minister through the Head of the Civil Service. The Unit was abolished in 2010.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cabinet Secretariat (India)</span> Department responsible for the administration of the Government of India

The Cabinet Secretariat is responsible for the administration of the Government of India. It provides secretarial assistance to the Cabinet of India and facilitates smooth transaction of business between Ministries and Departments of the Government. It functions from the Rashtrapati Bhavan on Raisina Hill in New Delhi.

The Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (PM&C) is an Australian Government public service central department of state with broad ranging responsibilities, primary of which is for intergovernmental and whole of government policy coordination and assisting the prime minister of Australia in managing the Cabinet of Australia. The PM&C was established in 1971 and traces its origins back to the Prime Minister's Department established in 1911.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ian Watmore</span>

Ian Charles Watmore is a British management consultant and former senior civil servant under three prime ministers, serving from October 2016 as the First Civil Service Commissioner.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mark Sedwill</span> British diplomat and civil servant (born 1964)

Mark Philip Sedwill, Baron Sedwill, is a British diplomat and senior civil servant who served as Cabinet Secretary and Head of the Home Civil Service to Prime Ministers Theresa May and Boris Johnson from 2018 to 2020. He also served as the United Kingdom National Security Adviser from 2017 to 2020. He was previously the United Kingdom's Ambassador to Afghanistan from 2009 to 2010 and the NATO Senior Civilian Representative in Afghanistan in 2010. He was the Permanent Under-Secretary of State at the Home Office from February 2013 to April 2017.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jeremy Heywood</span> British civil servant (1961–2018)

Jeremy John Heywood, Baron Heywood of Whitehall, was a British civil servant who served as Cabinet Secretary to David Cameron and Theresa May from 2012 to 2018 and Head of the Home Civil Service from 2014 to 2018. He served as the Principal Private Secretary to Prime Ministers Tony Blair and Gordon Brown from 1999 to 2003 and 2008 to 2010. He also served as Downing Street Chief of Staff and the first Downing Street Permanent Secretary. After he was diagnosed with lung cancer, he took a leave of absence from June 2018, and retired on health grounds on 24 October 2018, receiving a life peerage; he died a fortnight later on 4 November 2018.

The title secretary of state or state's secretary is commonly used for senior or mid-level posts in governments around the world. The role varies between countries, and in some cases there are multiple secretaries of state in the country's system of governing the country.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Security Adviser (United Kingdom)</span> Official in the British government

The National Security Adviser (NSA) is a senior official in the Cabinet Office, based in Whitehall, who serves as the principal adviser to the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Cabinet of the United Kingdom on all national security issues. The NSA post was created in May 2010 as part of the reforms that also saw the creation of the National Security Council. There have been six holders of the office to date, of whom two served more than three years in the post.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Olly Robbins</span> British civil servant

Sir Oliver Robbins is a former senior British civil servant who served as the Prime Minister's Europe Adviser and the chief Brexit negotiator from 2017 to 2019. He was a controversial figure among Brexit supporters for his perceived pro-European stance. He previously served as the Permanent Secretary at the Department for Exiting the European Union from July 2016 to September 2017, and as the Prime Minister's Advisor on Europe and Global Issues from June 2016 to July 2016. Since 2019, he has been an investment advisor at Goldman Sachs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Simon Case</span> British civil servant

Simon Case is a British civil servant who is the current Cabinet Secretary and Head of the Home Civil Service since 9 September 2020, succeeding Sir Mark Sedwill.

The Economic and Domestic Affairs Secretariat (EDS) is a secretariat in the United Kingdom Cabinet Office.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Helen MacNamara</span> British civil servant

Helen MacNamara is a British former civil servant, who served as the Deputy Cabinet Secretary in the Cabinet Office from 2020 to 2021. She had previously worked as Deputy Secretary to the Cabinet from January 2019 and was Director General for Propriety and Ethics in 2018. Previous to this, she was the Director General for Housing and Planning in the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government. She worked for Jeremy Heywood in the Cabinet Secretariat from 2013 to 2016.

References

  1. "Simon Case appointed as Cabinet Secretary and Head of the Civil Service". gov.uk. Retrieved 2 September 2020.
  2. "Development of Cabinet government". The National Archives.
  3. Sampson, Anthony (1982). The Changing Anatomy of Britain. Hodder and Stoughton. p. 171. ISBN   0-340-20964-X.
  4. Prime Minister's Official Spokesman (15 June 2005). "Sir Gus O'Donnell". Downing Street Says (unofficial record). Archived from the original on 13 July 2005. Retrieved 22 December 2011.
  5. HM Government (11 October 2011). "Cabinet Secretary announces retirement". Number 10 website. Retrieved 22 December 2011.
  6. Civil Service Live Network. "Kerslake to head the civil service with promise of 'visible leadership'". Archived from the original on 11 July 2012. Retrieved 1 January 2012.