A permanent secretary (also known as a principal secretary) is the most senior

civil servant The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil servants hired on professional merit rather than appointed or elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leaders ...

of a department or

ministry Ministry may refer to: Government * Ministry (collective executive), the complete body of government ministers under the leadership of a prime minister * Ministry (government department), a department of a government Religion * Christian ...

charged with running the department or ministry's day-to-day activities. Permanent secretaries are the non-political civil service

chief executives A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

of government departments or ministries, who generally hold their position for a number of years (thus "permanent") at a ministry as distinct from the changing political secretaries of state to whom they report and provide advice.

Country

Australia

In Australia, the position is called the "department secretary", “secretary of the department”, or “director-general of the department” in some states and territories.

Barbados

Canada

In Canada, the senior civil service position is a "deputy minister", who within a government ministry or department is outranked only by a

Minister of the Crown Minister of the Crown is a formal constitutional term used in Commonwealth realms to describe a minister of the reigning sovereign or viceroy. The term indicates that the minister serves at His Majesty's pleasure, and advises the sovereign or ...

. Federally, deputy ministers are appointed by the Prime Minister on the advice of the Secretary to the Cabinet (the Head of Canada's civil service). They are considered to hold equal rank with Parliamentary Secretaries or Assistants – legislators appointed to assist Ministers in their duties – and are entitled to several privileges, including the use of diplomatic passports.

Germany

In Germany, the equivalent office is called '' Staatssekretär'' (state secretary). It is not to be confused with the "parliamentary state secretary", who serves as deputy to a minister, often with a more specialised field of responsibilities. The parliamentary state secretary is always a political position, and not part of the civil service.

India

In India, the equivalent position is called 'secretary to the Government of India' and is the highest-ranking permanent civil servant in a department. With the exception of departments within the Ministry of External Affairs, which are headed by

Indian Foreign Service The Indian Foreign Service (IFS) is the diplomatic service and a central civil service of the Government of India under the Ministry of External Affairs. The Foreign Secretary is the head of the service. Vinay Mohan Kwatra is the 34th and the ...

officers, all Secretaries to the Government of India are drawn from cadres of the

Indian Administrative Service The Indian Administrative Service (IAS) is the administrative arm of the All India Services of Government of India. Considered the premier civil service of India, the IAS is one of the three arms of the All India Services along with the Indian ...

. These officers directly report to Ministers of the Union within their respective ministry, and oversee all day-to-day operations of their departments. Within the civil service, they are outranked only by the

Cabinet Secretary of India The Cabinet Secretary is the top-most executive official and senior-most civil servant of the Government of India. The Cabinet Secretary is the ''ex-officio'' head of the Civil Services Board, the Cabinet Secretariat, the Indian Administrativ ...

or the

Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister of India The Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister of India (PS to the PM) is the senior-most bureaucrat in, and the administrative head of, the Prime Minister's Office. The officeholder is generally a civil servant, commonly from the Indian Adminis ...

when the latter is granted the rank of Cabinet Secretary (as has been the case under Prime Minister

Narendra Modi Narendra Damodardas Modi (; born 17 September 1950) is an Indian politician serving as the 14th and current Prime Minister of India since 2014. Modi was the Chief Minister of Gujarat from 2001 to 2014 and is the Member of Parliament from ...

Indonesia

In Indonesia, the equivalent position is called Secretary-General (, abbreviated ''Sekjen''), one of the highest-ranking permanent civil servants in a ministry, leads the General Secretariat (, abbreviated ''Setjen''). These officers directly report to the minister in their respective ministry or to the respective leader in state bodies.

Hong Kong

In Hong Kong, heads of policy bureaux, secretaries, were filled by civil servants until their titles were changed to permanent secretaries in 2002, when political appointees filled the positions of secretaries under the second

Tung Chee Hwa Tung Chee-hwa (; born 7 July 1937) is a Hong Kong businessman and politician who served as the first Chief Executive of Hong Kong between 1997 and 2005, upon the transfer of sovereignty on 1 July. He is currently a vice-chairman of the Chine ...

government. Since August 2005, the Office of the Chief Executive also has a permanent secretary. His ranking is, however, lower than most other permanent secretaries according to the pay scale.

Malaysia

In Malaysia, a permanent secretary refers to the administrative head of a ministry in the states of

Sabah Sabah () is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia located in northern Borneo, in the region of East Malaysia. Sabah borders the Malaysian state of Sarawak to the southwest and the North Kalimantan province of Indone ...

and

Sarawak Sarawak (; ) is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia. The largest among the 13 states, with an area almost equal to that of Peninsular Malaysia, Sarawak is located in northwest Borneo Island, and is bordered by the M ...

. The administrative head of a federal ministry is called "secretary general".

Mauritius

On the island state of

Mauritius Mauritius ( ; french: Maurice, link=no ; mfe, label=Mauritian Creole, Moris ), officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean about off the southeast coast of the African continent, east of Madagascar. It incl ...

, which is a former British colony, there are a number of Permanent Secretaries who report to the ''Secretary to Cabinet and Head of the Civil Service''. In the Prime Minister's Office there are 2 Permanent Secretaries, assisted by 3 Deputy Permanent Secretaries as well as 4 Assistant Permanent Secretaries. There are at least 147 Assistant Permanent Secretaries, 86 Deputy Permanent Secretaries and 37 Permanent Secretaries in the various Ministries of the

Government of Mauritius The Government of Mauritius () is the main authority of the executive power in the Republic of Mauritius. The head of the Government is the Prime Minister of Mauritius, who manages the main agenda of the Government and direct the ministers. The 2 ...

New Zealand

In New Zealand, the civil service head of a ministry is ordinarily entitled “chief executive”, though there are still some positions which still carry the title of secretary (Secretary of Education, Secretary of Justice, Secretary of Transport). In some cases (such as the

New Zealand Security Intelligence Service The New Zealand Security Intelligence Service (NZSIS or SIS; mi, Te Pā Whakamarumaru) is New Zealand's primary national intelligence agency. It is responsible for providing information and advising on matters including national security (incl ...

, Ministry for Primary Industries, Department of Conservation, Ministry of Health) the title is “director-general”. Organisations with enforcement powers, such as the Inland Revenue Department and the

New Zealand Police The New Zealand Police ( mi, Ngā Pirihimana o Aotearoa) is the national police service and principal law enforcement agency of New Zealand, responsible for preventing crime, enhancing public safety, bringing offenders to justice, and maintai ...

, are headed by

commissioner A commissioner (commonly abbreviated as Comm'r) is, in principle, a member of a commission or an individual who has been given a commission (official charge or authority to do something). In practice, the title of commissioner has evolved to in ...

s. The New Zealand Customs Service is headed by the Comptroller of Customs. Civil service heads are officially employed by the

State Services Commission The Public Service Commission (PSC; Māori: ''Te Kawa Mataaho''), called the State Services Commission until 2020, is the central public service department of New Zealand charged with overseeing, managing, and improving the performance of the ...

, further separating them from the politicians who hold ministerial positions.

Pakistan

In Pakistan, the equivalent position is called

Federal Secretary The federal secretary (also referred to as the secretary to the Government of Pakistan) is the highest-ranking position in the Government of Pakistan, occupied by the most senior civil servant in a specific ministry or division. The secretary is ...

and is the highest ranking permanent civil servant in a federal ministry.

Singapore

In Singapore, permanent secretaries have to retire after a 10-year term even if they are younger than the official retirement age of 62. This was introduced in 2000 as part of the Public Service Leadership scheme, to provide opportunities for younger officers from the Administrative Service — the elite arm of the

Civil Service The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil servants hired on professional merit rather than appointed or elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leaders ...

— to rise up the ranks.

Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

, a ''Secretary to the Ministry'' (also known as ''Ministry Secretary'' or simply ''Secretary'') is the administrative head of a ministry and is appointed by the

President of Sri Lanka The President of Sri Lanka ( si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා ජනාධිපති ''Śrī Laṃkā Janādhipathi''; ta, இலங்கை சனாதிபதி ''Ilankai janātipati'') is the head of state and head of government of t ...

. The post of ''Permanent secretary'' was created under the '' Ceylon (Constitution and Independence) Orders in Council 1947'' when Ceylon gained self-rule from

Britain Britain most often refers to: * The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands * Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...

in 1948. Permanent secretaries were commonly appointed from the

Ceylon Civil Service The Ceylon Civil Service, popularly known by its acronym CCS, was the premier civil service of the Government of Ceylon under British colonial rule and in the immediate post-independence period. Established in 1833, it functioned as part of the ...

, with a few exceptions such as the permanent secretary to the ministry of justice which would be an officer of the judicial service.

Anandatissa de Alwis Maha Amarasinghege Anandatissa de Alwis (21 August 1919 – 22 August 1996) was a Sri Lankan journalist, marketer and politician. He was the Speaker of the National State Assembly, a Minister of State and the fourth Governor of the North Weste ...

was the first person from the private sector to be appointed as permanent secretary. The

Sri Lankan Constitution of 1972 The Sri Lankan Constitution of 1972 was a constitution of Sri Lanka, replaced by the 1978 constitution currently in force. It was Sri Lanka's first republican constitution, and its second since independence in 1948. The constitution changed th ...

, changed the title to secretary to the ministry. Traditionally if the appointee is a serving member a

public service A public service is any service intended to address specific needs pertaining to the aggregate members of a community. Public services are available to people within a government jurisdiction as provided directly through public sector agencies ...

, he or she would leave the service for the duration they would hold the appointment. In the recent past it has been common for ministry secretaries to be appointed from outside the public service, with some on political grounds at the discretion of the president on the advice of the minister in charge. Major General

Sanjeewa Munasinghe Major General Sanjeewa Munasinghe, RWP, RSP, VSV, USP is a Sri Lankan military physician. He is the Secretary to the Ministry of Health and former Director General, Army Health Services and Colonel Commandant of the Sri Lanka Army Medical Co ...

became the first serving military officer from the regular force to be appointed a ministry secretary in 2020.Secretaries to the Ministries
/ref>

Italy

In Italy, the highest civil service official in a ministry or department is either a ''segretario generale'' (secretary-general) or a ''direttore generale'' (director-general), while the position of ''sottosegretario di stato'' (under-secretary of state) is a political one and ranks below the ''ministro segretario di stato'' (minister-secretary of state, the head of a ministry or department) or the ''vice ministro'' (deputy-minister), both political posts as well.

Japan

The Japanese equivalents are the administrative vice-ministers.

Ireland

In the

Civil service of the Republic of Ireland The Civil Service ( ga, An Státseirbhís) of Ireland is the collective term for the permanent staff of the departments of state and certain state agencies who advise and work for the Government of Ireland. It consists of two broad components, t ...

, the position of Secretary General of a

Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs of other nati ...

is almost identical to that of a

Permanent Secretary A permanent secretary (also known as a principal secretary) is the most senior Civil Service (United Kingdom), civil servant of a department or Ministry (government department), ministry charged with running the department or ministry's day-to-day ...

in the British

, except that the position is not permanent, having a term of seven years. This limit was introduced by the Strategic Management Initiative of the mid-1990s, when also the title was changed from "Secretary". Irish government departments may also have a "second secretary", which is equivalent to the Second Permanent Secretary grade in the British civil service.

Israel

In Israel, the equivalent office is called ''מנהל כללי'', a term which is ordinarily translated as

Chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

. The official English translation for the government post is "Director General". Directors General of ministries are nominated by the relevant minister and confirmed by the Government, and serve at the pleasure of the ministers above them.

United Kingdom

A permanent under-secretary of state, known informally as a permanent secretary, is the most senior

of a

in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

United States

In the United States, the equivalent position is a Deputy Secretary of an executive department.{{disputed-inline, US equivalent, date=October 2022

References

Government occupations