In the United Kingdom,the Civil Service is the permanent bureaucracy or secretariat of Crown employees that supports His Majesty's Government,the Scottish Government and the Welsh Government,which is led by a cabinet of ministers chosen by the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
The Government of the United Kingdom is divided into departments that each have responsibility,according to the government,for putting government policy into practice. There are currently 24 ministerial departments,20 non-ministerial departments,and 422 agencies and other public bodies,for a total of 465 departments.
The Cabinet Office is a ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It is responsible for supporting the prime minister and Cabinet. It is composed of various units that support Cabinet committees and coordinate the delivery of government objectives via other departments. As of December 2021,it had over 10,200 staff,mostly civil servants,some of whom work in Whitehall. Staff working in the Prime Minister's Office are part of the Cabinet Office.
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.
Dame Susan Jane Owen is a former British civil servant,economist and former academic. She served as the Permanent Secretary for the Department for Digital,Culture,Media and Sport from October 2013 until her retirement in March 2019.
Sir Thomas Whinfield Scholar is a British civil servant who served as Permanent Secretary to the Treasury from 2016 to 2022. He was previously the prime minister's adviser on European and global issues in the Cabinet Office from 2013 to 2016. He has been a director of the nationalised bank Northern Rock,and served as chief of staff for Gordon Brown.
Sir Jonathan Andrew de Sievrac Stephens,KCB is a retired British civil servant who was Permanent Secretary at the Northern Ireland Office between 2014 and 2020,and the Permanent Secretary of the Department for Culture,Media and Sport between 2006 and 2013. On his retirement,he was replaced as Permanent Secretary of the Northern Ireland Office by Madeleine Alessandri.
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.
Sir Martin Eugene Donnelly,is a British former civil servant. His roles included permanent secretary of the Department for Business,Innovation and Skills (2010–2016),and of the Department for International Trade (2016–2017).
Sir Robert John Devereux,KCB is a retired senior British civil servant,who served as Permanent Secretary for the Department for Transport from 2007 to 2011,and oversaw a new policy increasing the UK retirement age to 67 at the Department for Work and Pensions from 2011 until his retirement at 61 in January 2018.
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 Sir Chris Wormald.
Sir Oliver Robbins is a senior British civil servant who served as the Prime Minister's Europe Adviser and the chief Brexit negotiator from 2017 to 2019 and currently serves as the Permanent Under-Secretary at the Foreign Office since 2025. 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. Between 2019 and 2025,he has been an investment advisor at Goldman Sachs.
The Honours Committee is a committee within the Cabinet Office of the Government of the United Kingdom formed to review nominations for national honours for merit,exceptional achievement or service. Twice yearly the Honours Committee submits formal recommendations for the British monarch's New Years and Birthday Honours. Members of the Honours Committee—which comprises a main committee and nine subcommittees in speciality areas—research and vet nominations for national awards,including knighthoods and the Order of the British Empire.
Sir Richard Nicholas Heaton,KCB is a barrister and former senior British civil servant who was the Permanent Secretary to the Ministry of Justice and Clerk of the Crown in Chancery from September 2015 until resigning in August 2020. He had previously served as Cabinet Office Permanent Secretary,and First Parliamentary Counsel. He currently serves as Warden of Robinson College,Cambridge.
Dame Melanie Henrietta Dawes is a British economist and administrator. Since February 2020 she has been Chief Executive of Ofcom. She was previously the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Housing,Communities and Local Government,and before that worked at HM Treasury,HM Revenue and Customs,and in the Cabinet Office. She is a Trustee of the Patchwork Foundation,founded by Harris Bokhari.
Simon Case is a British civil servant who served as Cabinet Secretary and Head of the Home Civil Service from September 2020 to December 2024.
Jonathan Slater is a former high ranking British civil servant. From May 2016,he was Permanent Secretary of the Department for Education until his abrupt dismissal on 26 August 2020 following a controversy over national school examination grades.
The Economic and Domestic Affairs Secretariat (EDS) is a secretariat in the United Kingdom Cabinet Office.
Shona Hunter Dunn is the CEO of the First Aid charity St John Ambulance and a former British civil servant,serving from October 2018 to May 2024 as the Second Permanent Secretary at the Home Office.
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. 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.
