Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom

The Government of the United Kingdom is divided into departments. These, according to the government, are responsible 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.

Ministerial departments

Ministerial departments are generally the most high-profile government departments and differ from the other two types of government departments in that they include ministers. A list of all ministerial departments is shown below.

Ministerial department Minister responsible Civil servant responsible Ref.
Attorney General's Office The Rt Hon Victoria Prentis KC MP
Attorney General for England and Wales and Advocate General for Northern Ireland
Douglas Wilson OBE
Director-General
Cabinet Office The Rt Hon Oliver Dowden CBE MP
Secretary of State in the Cabinet Office
Sir Alex Chisholm KCB
Permanent Secretary
Department for Business and Trade The Rt Hon Kemi Badenoch MP
Secretary of State for Business and Trade and President of the Board of Trade
Gareth Davies CB
Permanent Secretary
Department for Culture, Media and Sport The Rt Hon Lucy Frazer KC MP
Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
Susannah Storey
Permanent Secretary
Department for Education The Rt Hon Gillian Keegan MP
Secretary of State for Education
Susan Acland-Hood
Permanent Secretary
Department for Energy Security and Net Zero The Rt Hon Claire Coutinho MP
Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero
Jeremy Pockington CB
Permanent Secretary
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs The Rt Hon Steve Barclay MP
Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Tamara Finkelstein CB
Permanent Secretary
Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities The Rt Hon Michael Gove MP
Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities and Minister for Intergovernmental Relations
Sarah Healey CB CVO
Permanent Secretary
Department for Science, Innovation and Technology The Rt Hon Michelle Donelan MP
Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology
Sarah Munby
Permanent Secretary
Department for Transport The Rt Hon Mark Harper MP
Secretary of State for Transport
Dame Bernadette Kelly DCB
Permanent Secretary
Department for Work and Pensions The Rt Hon Mel Stride MP
Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
Peter Schofield CB
Permanent Secretary
Department of Health and Social Care The Rt Hon Victoria Atkins MP
Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
Sir Chris Wormald KCB
Permanent Secretary
Export Credits Guarantee Department
(trading as UK Export Finance)
The Rt Hon Kemi Badenoch MP
Secretary of State for Business and Trade and President of the Board of Trade
Tim Reid
Chief Executive
Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office The Rt Hon The Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton PC
Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs
Sir Philip Barton KCMG OBE
Permanent Secretary
HM Treasury The Rt Hon Jeremy Hunt MP
Chancellor of the Exchequer and Second Lord of the Treasury
James Bowler CB
Permanent Secretary
Home Office The Rt Hon James Cleverly TD VR MP
Secretary of State for the Home Department
Sir Matthew Rycroft KCMG CBE
Permanent Secretary
Ministry of Defence The Rt Hon Grant Shapps MP
Secretary of State for Defence
David Williams CB
Permanent Secretary
Ministry of Justice The Rt Hon Alex Chalk KC MP
Secretary of State for Justice and Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain
Antonia Romeo
Permanent Secretary & Clerk of the Crown in Chancery
Northern Ireland Office The Rt Hon Chris Heaton-Harris MP
Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
Julie Harrison
Permanent Secretary
Office of the Advocate General for Scotland The Rt Hon The Lord Stewart of Dirleton KC
Advocate General for Scotland
Neil Taylor
Director & Solicitor to the Advocate General
Office of the Leader of the House of Commons The Rt Hon Penny Mordaunt MP
Leader of the House of Commons and Lord President of the Council
N/A
Office of the Leader of the House of Lords The Rt Hon The Lord True CBE
Leader of the House of Lords and Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal
N/A
Office of the Secretary of State for Scotland The Rt Hon Alister Jack DL MP
Secretary of State for Scotland
Lyn McDonald
Temporary Director
Office of the Secretary of State for Wales The Rt Hon David TC Davies
Secretary of State for Wales
Glynne Jones CBE
Director

Non-ministerial departments

Non-ministerial departments are headed by civil servants and usually have a regulatory or inspection function. A list of all non-ministerial departments is shown below.

Non-ministerial department Ref.
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
HM Land Registry
HM Revenue & Customs
National Savings and Investments
The National Archives
National Crime Agency
Office of Rail and Road
Office of Gas and Electricity Markets
Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation
Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills
Serious Fraud Office
Supreme Court of the United Kingdom
UK Statistics Authority
Water Services Regulation Authority

Agencies and other public bodies

Government departments in this third and final category can generally be split into five types:

  • Executive agencies, which usually provide government services rather than decide policy
  • Executive non-departmental public bodies, which do work for the government in specific areas
  • Advisory non-departmental public bodies, which provide independent and expert advice to ministers
  • Tribunal non-departmental public bodies, which are part of the justice system and have jurisdiction over a specific area of the law
  • Independent monitoring boards, which are responsible for the running of prisons and the treatment of prisoners

See also


This page was last updated at 2023-12-24 12:38 UTC. Update now. View original page.

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