Departments of the United Kingdom Government
Her Majesty's Government of the United Kingdom contains a number of Ministers and Secretaries of State. These members of the Cabinet are supported by civil servants in Ministerial Departments.[1]
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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 and is a member of the Cabinet. He or she is generally supported by a team of junior Ministers. The administrative management of the 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 a number of non-departmental public bodies (NDPBs), known colloquially as 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.
- Attorney General's Office (AGO)
- Cabinet Office (CO)
- Communities and Local Government (CLG)
- Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR)
- Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF)
- Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS)
- Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC)
- Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA)
- Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS)
- Department for International Development (DfID)
- Department for Transport (DfT)
- Department for Work and Pensions (DWP)
- Department of Health (DH)
- Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO)
- Her Majesty’s Treasury (HMT)
- Home Office (HO)
- Ministry of Defence (MoD)
- Ministry of Justice (MoJ)
- Scotland Office (SO)
- Wales Office (WO)
- Northern Ireland Office (NIO)
- Office of the Leader of the House of Commons
- Charity Commission for England and Wales
- Commissioners for the Reduction of the National Debt (CRND)
- Crown Estate (CE)
- Crown Prosecution Service (CPS)
- Export Credits Guarantee Department ECGD
- Food Standards Agency
- Forestry Commission
- Government Actuary's Department (GAD)
- HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC)
- National School of Government (NSG)
- Office for Standards in Education (OFSTED)
- Office of Fair Trading (OFT)
- Office of Gas and Electricity Markets/Gas and Electricity Markets Authority (OFGEM)
- Office of Rail Regulation (ORR)
- Parliamentary Counsel Office (PCO)
- Postal Services Commission (Postcomm)
- Public Works Loan Board (PWLB)
- Revenue and Customs Prosecutions Office (RCPO)
- Serious Fraud Office (SFO)
- Treasury Solicitor's Department (TSol)
- UK Statistics Authority
- UK Trade & Investment (UKTI)
- Water Services Regulation Authority (Ofwat)
- Cabinet Office - Ministerial Responsibilities
- Directgov - widest range of government information and services online
- A list of all government bodies (including Government Departments) granted Crown Copyright
