Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (or just Parliamentary Secretary, particularly in departments not led by a Secretary of State) is the lowest of three tiers of government minister in the

UK government ga, Rialtas a Shoilse gd, Riaghaltas a Mhòrachd , image = HM Government logo.svg , image_size = 220px , image2 = Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom (HM Government).svg , image_size2 = 180px , caption = Royal Arms , date_est ...

, immediately junior to a

Minister of State Minister of State is a title borne by politicians in certain countries governed under a parliamentary system. In some countries a Minister of State is a Junior Minister of government, who is assigned to assist a specific Cabinet Minister. I ...

, which is itself junior to a Secretary of State.

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 The lord chancellor, formally the lord high chancellor of Great Britain, is the highest-ranking traditional minister among the Great Officers of State in Scotland and England in the United Kingdom, nominally outranking the prime minister. Th ...

, 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. The limit on the number of unpaid Parliamentary Secretaries is given by the

House of Commons Disqualification Act 1975 The House of Commons Disqualification Act 1975 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that prohibits certain categories of people from becoming members of the House of Commons. It is an updated version of similar older acts, known col ...

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. The position should neither be confused with the

Permanent Secretary A permanent secretary (also known as a principal secretary) is the most senior civil servant of a department or ministry charged with running the department or ministry's day-to-day activities. Permanent secretaries are the non-political civil ...

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 A Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) is a Member of Parliament (MP) in the United Kingdom who acts as an unpaid assistant to a minister or shadow minister. They are selected from backbench MPs as the 'eyes and ears' of the minister in the ...

(an MP serving as an assistant to a minister entitled to directly relevant expenses but no further pay). Of his tenure as an under-secretary in Macmillan's 1957–1963 Conservative government from the Lords, the

Duke of Devonshire Duke of Devonshire is a title in the Peerage of England held by members of the Cavendish family. This (now the senior) branch of the Cavendish family has been one of the wealthiest British aristocratic families since the 16th century and ha ...

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".

Current Parliamentary Under-Secretaries of State

The current Parliamentary Under-Secretaries of State are: * HM Treasury ** Economic Secretary to the Treasury **

Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury The Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury is a junior ministerial post in His Majesty's Treasury, ranked below the First Lord of the Treasury, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, the Paymaster General and the Fina ...

*Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (see

Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs is a vacant junior position in the British government, subordinate to both the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and since 1945 also to the Minister of State for Foreign Affa ...

Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Armed Forces The minister of state for the armed forces is a mid-level ministerial position at the Ministry of Defence in the Government of the United Kingdom. When of Minister of State rank (until the appointment of James Heappey as a Parliamentary Under-S ...

** Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence People and Veterans *Department of Health and Social Care ** Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Technology, Innovation and Life Sciences ** Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Vaccines and Public Health **Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Patient Safety and Primary Care *

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) is a department of His Majesty's Government. The department was formed during a machinery of government change on 14 July 2016, following Theresa May's appointment as Prim ...

**Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Business and Industry ** Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Science, Research and Innovation **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 ** Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Exports (joint with UK Export Finance) **

Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for International Trade The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for International Trade (Minister for International Trade) is a junior position in the Department for International Trade of the Government of the United Kingdom. Responsibilities The minister has re ...

Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Equalities The minister for women and equalities is a ministerial position in the United Kingdom which leads the Government Equalities Office. This is an independent department within the wider Cabinet Office that has responsibility for addressing all form ...

** Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Women *Department for Work and Pensions ** Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Employment **

Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Pensions and Financial Inclusion The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Pensions is a junior position in the Department for Work and Pensions in the British government. Responsibilities The minister's responsibilities include: *Pensioner benefits, including new State ...

**Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Welfare Delivery ** Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Work and Pensions *Department for Education **

Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Children and Families The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Children, Families and Wellbeing, formerly the Minister of State for Schools and Childhood is a junior ministerial position in the Department for Education, previously the Department for Children, Sc ...

Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Apprenticeships and Skills The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Apprenticeships and Skills (also known as Apprenticeships and Skills Minister) is a junior ministerial position in the Department for Education in the British government. It was held by Alex Burghart ...

** Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the School System *Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs **

Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Farming, Fisheries and Food A parliamentary system, or parliamentarian democracy, is a system of democracy, democratic government, governance of a sovereign state, state (or subordinate entity) where the Executive (government), executive derives its democratic legitimacy ...

** 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 *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 ** Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Wales *Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport ** Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Digital Infrastructure ** Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Sport, Tourism and Heritage **Parliamentary Secretary (

Minister for Civil Society The Minister for Civil Society was a position within the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, Department for Culture, Media and Sport in the Government of the United Kingdom. It concerned and directly supported charities, volunteerin ...

) *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 ** Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union *

Department of Health and Social Care The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for government policy on health and adult social care matters in England, along with a few elements of the same matters which are not otherw ...

** Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Health *Technology ** Parliamentary Secretary, Ministry of Technology *Foreign affairs and Defence ** Under-Secretary of State for Air **

Under-Secretary of State for Commonwealth Affairs The position of Under-Secretary of State for Commonwealth Affairs in the United Kingdom was created in 1966 by the merger of the old positions of Under-Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations and Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies. The ...

Under-Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations The Under-Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations was a junior ministerial post in the United Kingdom Government from 1947 until 1966. The holder was responsible for assisting the Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations in dealing with B ...

Under-Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs The position of Under-Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs was a British ministerial position, subordinate to that of Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs, created in 1925 to deal with British relations with the Dominions – Canada, Aust ...

** Under-Secretary of State for India **

Under-Secretary of State for War The position of Under-Secretary of State for War was a British government position, first applied to Evan Nepean (appointed in 1794). In 1801 the offices for War and the Colonies were merged and the post became that of Under-Secretary of State fo ...

Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies The Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies was a junior Ministerial post in the United Kingdom government, subordinate to the Secretary of State for the Colonies and, from 1948, also to a Minister of State. Under-Secretaries of State for the ...

** Under-Secretary of State for War and the Colonies

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Parliamentary Under-Secretary Of State Ministerial positions in the Government of the United Kingdom

Background

Current Parliamentary Under-Secretaries of State

Historic Parliamentary Under-Secretaries of State

See also

References