British government departments

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The Government of the United Kingdom exercises its executive authority through a number of government departments or departments of state. A department is composed of employed officials, known as civil servants, and is politically accountable through a minister. Most major departments are headed by a secretary of state, who sits in the cabinet, and typically supported by a team of junior ministers.

There are also a number of non-ministerial departments. These are headed by senior civil servants, but are linked to a ministerial department through whose ministers they are accountable to Parliament. Departments serve to implement the policies of Her Majesty's Government, regardless of the government's political composition. As a consequence, officials within government departments are generally required to adhere to varying levels of political impartiality and neutrality.

Types of departments

There are two types of government departments.

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. He or she is generally supported by a team of junior ministers. The administrative management of a 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 quasi-autonomous non-governmental organisations (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.

List of British government departments

Ministerial departments

• Attorney General's Office
• Cabinet Office
• Department for Business, Innovation and Skills
• Department for Communities and Local Government
• Department for Culture, Media and Sport
• Department for Education
• Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
• Department for International Development
• Department for Transport
• Department for Work and Pensions
• Department of Energy and Climate Change
• Department of Health
• Foreign and Commonwealth Office
• Her Majesty's Treasury
• Home Office
• Ministry of Defence
• Ministry of Justice
• Northern Ireland Office
• Office of the Advocate General for Scotland
• Office of the Leader of the House of Commons
• Office of the Leader of the House of Lords
• Scotland Office
• UK Export Finance
• Wales Office

Non-ministerial departments

• Charity Commission for England and Wales
• Competition and Markets Authority
• Crown Prosecution Service
• Food Standards Agency
• Forestry Commission
• Government Actuary's Department
• Government Legal Department
• Her Majesty's Land Registry
• Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs
• National Crime Agency
• National Savings and Investments
• Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills
• Office of Gas and Electricity Markets
• Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation
• Office of Rail and Road
• Ordnance Survey
• Serious Fraud Office
• Supreme Court of the United Kingdom
• The National Archives
• UK Statistics Authority
• UK Trade & Investment
• Water Services Regulation Authority

List of executive agencies reporting to each department of the British government

Main article: executive agency

See also

• Office of the Prime Minister
• Politics of the United Kingdom

External links

• Cabinet Office - UK Government
• GOV.UK - widest range of government information and services online
• A list of all public bodies (including Government departments) granted Crown copyright