The parliamentary under-secretary of state (or just parliamentary secretary, particularly in departments not led by a Secretary of State)[1] is the lowest of three tiers of government minister in the UK government, immediately junior to a Minister of State, which is itself junior to a Secretary of State.[2]
Background
The Ministerial and Other Salaries Act 1975 provides that at any one time there can be no more than 83 paid ministers (not counting the Lord Chancellor, up to 3 law officers, and up to 22 whips). Of these, no more than 50 ministers can be paid the salary of a minister senior to a Parliamentary Secretary. Thus, if 50 senior ministers are appointed, the maximum number of paid Parliamentary Secretaries is 33.[3][4]
The limit on the number of unpaid Parliamentary Secretaries is given by the House of Commons Disqualification Act 1975, ensuring that no more than 95 government ministers of any kind can sit in the House of Commons at any one time; there is no upper bound to the number of unpaid ministers sitting in the House of Lords.[4][5][6]
The position should not be confused with the Permanent Secretary, which is the most senior civil servant in a government department (also known as the Permanent Under-Secretary of State), nor with a Parliamentary Private Secretary (an MP serving as an assistant to a minister entitled to directly relevant expenses but no further pay).[2][7]
Of his tenure as an under-secretary in Macmillan's 1957–1963 Conservative government from the Lords, the Duke of Devonshire noted: "No one who hasn't been a Parliamentary Under Secretary of State has any conception of how unimportant a Parliamentary Under Secretary of State is".[8]
Current Parliamentary Under-Secretaries of State
 | This section's factual accuracy may be compromised due to out-of-date information. (January 2024) |
The current Parliamentary Under-Secretaries of State are:[9]
- HM Treasury
- Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (see Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs)
- Home Office (see Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department)
- Cabinet Office
- Parliamentary Secretary (Minister for Implementation)[11]
- Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence People and Veterans
- Ministry of Justice
- Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice
- Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State
- Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Immigration Compliance and the Courts (joint with Home Office)
- Ministry of Defence
- Department of Health and Social Care
- Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Technology, Innovation and Life Sciences[12]
- Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Vaccines and Public Health[13]
- Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Patient Safety and Primary Care[14]
- Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
- Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Business and Industry
- Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Science, Research and Innovation[15]
- Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Small Business, Consumers and Labour Markets
- Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Climate Change and Corporate Responsibility
- Department for International Trade
- Department for Work and Pensions
- Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Employment
- Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Pensions and Financial Inclusion
- Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Welfare Delivery
- Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
- Department for Education
- Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
- Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Farming, Fisheries and Food
- Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Rural Affairs and Biosecurity
- Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State
- Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
- Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Housing and Rough Sleeping
- Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Faith and Communities[16]
- Department for Transport
- Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State
- Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State
- Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State
- Office of the Secretary of State for Scotland
- Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Scotland
- Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State
- Office of the Secretary of State for Wales
- Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
- UK Export Finance
- Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Exports (joint with Department for International Trade)
Historic Parliamentary Under-Secretaries of State
- Department for Exiting the European Union
- Department of Health and Social Care
- Technology
- Foreign affairs and Defence
- Under-Secretary of State for Air
- Under-Secretary of State for Commonwealth Affairs
- Under-Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations
- Under-Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs
- Under-Secretary of State for India
- Under-Secretary of State for War
- Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies
- Under-Secretary of State for War and the Colonies
- Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Supply
See also
References
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