The Ministry of Defence is a ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It is responsible for implementing the defence policy set by the government and serves as the headquarters of the British Armed Forces.
His Majesty's Revenue and Customs is a non-ministerial department of the UK Government responsible for the collection of taxes,the payment of some forms of state support,the administration of other regulatory regimes including the national minimum wage and the issuance of national insurance numbers. HMRC was formed by the merger of the Inland Revenue and HM Customs and Excise,which took effect on 18 April 2005. The department's logo is the Tudor Crown enclosed within a circle.
David Gifford Leathes Prior,Baron Prior of Brampton is the former chairman of NHS England and chairman of University College Hospital. He served as Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) for North Norfolk from 1997 until the 2001 general election,when he lost his seat to Norman Lamb of the Liberal Democrats by 483 votes. In 2015,he was appointed as a life peer in the House of Lords.
Sir Peter James Housden is a former public official who worked in local and central government. He served as Permanent Secretary to the Scottish Government from June 2010 to June 2015. He was previously Permanent Secretary of the Department for Communities and Local Government.
The Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) is an executive agency of the Ministry of Defence of the United Kingdom. Its stated purpose is "to maximise the impact of science and technology for the defence and security of the UK". The agency is headed by Paul Hollinshead as its chief executive,with the board being chaired by Adrian Belton. Ministerial responsibility lies with the Minister for Defence Procurement.
Jonathan Douglas Evans,Baron Evans of Weardale,is a British life peer who formerly served as the Director General of the British Security Service,the United Kingdom's domestic security and counter-intelligence service. He took over the role on the retirement of his predecessor Dame Eliza Manningham-Buller on 21 April 2007. Evans was succeeded by Andrew Parker on 22 April 2013.
Sir Michael Charles Scholar,KCB is a British civil servant and former President of St John's College,Oxford.
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.
Dame Linda Margaret Homer,is a retired British civil servant who served as chief executive of HM Revenue and Customs between 2012 and 2016.
Sir David Hartmann Higgins is an Australian-British businessman,the Chairman of United Utilities Group,Chairman of Gatwick Airport,and the former Non-Executive Chairman of High Speed Two (HS2). He was Chief Executive of the London 2012 Summer Olympics Delivery Authority and Network Rail.
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.
The Permanent Under-Secretary of State for Defence,also called the Permanent Secretary to the Ministry of Defence,is the permanent secretary at the Ministry of Defence. The office holder is the government's principal civilian adviser on Defence matters. The office holder is a member of the Defence Council and the Defence Board. They are the MOD Principal Accounting Officer,and are called to give evidence to the Defence Select Committee.
The Navy Command is the current headquarters body of the Royal Navy,and as of 2012 its major organisational grouping. It is a hybrid,neither a command,nor simply an installation. Royal Navy official writings describe Navy Command Headquarters both as a physical site,on Whale Island,Hampshire,a collective formed of the most senior RN officers,and as a budgetary grouping.
Sir James Alan Harra,is a British civil servant who has been First Permanent Secretary and Chief Executive of HM Revenue and Customs since October 2019,in succession to Sir Jonathan Thompson.
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.
The 2015 Queen's Birthday Honours were appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours were awarded as part of the Queen's Official Birthday celebrations during the month of June. The Queen's Birthday Honours were announced on 1 June 2015 in New Zealand,on 8 June in Australia,and on 12 June in the United Kingdom,in Grenada,Papua New Guinea,Solomon Islands,Tuvalu,Saint Lucia and Belize.
Admiral Sir Benjamin John Key,is a senior Royal Navy officer. He has served as First Sea Lord since November 2021. He has commanded HM Ships Sandown,Iron Duke and Lancaster,and deployed on operations to Kosovo and Iraq. He was appointed Fleet Commander in 2016,and the Chief of Joint Operations in 2019.
Sir John Edward Astley Troup is a British tax lawyer,and was a civil servant at HM Treasury and then HM Revenue &Customs. He spent two periods as a tax partner at the law firm Simmons &Simmons,from 1985 to 1995 and from 1997 to 2004,and was a special adviser to Kenneth Clarke as Chancellor of the Exchequer in 1995-97.
The Navy Department was a former ministerial service department of the British Ministry of Defence responsible for the control and direction of His Majesty's Naval Service. It was established on 1 April 1964 when the Admiralty was absorbed into a unified Ministry of Defence,where it became the Navy Department. Political oversight of the department originally lay with the Minister of Defence for the Royal Navy (1964–1967) it then passed to the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence for the Royal Navy (1967–1981),then later to the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Armed Forces (1981–1990),and finally the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence (1991–1997).
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. Similar offices,often employing different terms,exist in many other Westminster-style systems and in some other governments. In the United States,the equivalent position is a Deputy Secretary of an executive department,though British permanent secretaries are career civil servants.
