Permanent Secretary to the Treasury
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The UK Permanent Secretary to the Treasury is the most senior civil servant at
HM Treasury His Majesty's Treasury (HM Treasury), occasionally referred to as the Exchequer, or more informally the Treasury, is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for developing and executing the government's public finance policy and ec ...
. The post originated as that of Assistant Secretary to the Treasury in 1805; that office was given new duties and renamed in 1867 as 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 ...
ship. The position is generally regarded as the second most influential in His Majesty's Civil Service; Andrew Turnbull (Permanent Secretary from 1998 to 2002) and Gus O'Donnell (2002–2005) were Permanent Secretaries to the Treasury who then became Cabinet Secretary, the most influential post. Previous incumbents have not always maintained the
political neutrality A neutral country is a state that is neutral towards belligerents in a specific war or holds itself as permanently neutral in all future conflicts (including avoiding entering into military alliances such as NATO, CSTO or the SCO). As a type of ...
expected of civil servants; in 1909
Sir George Murray Sir George Murray (6 February 1772 – 28 July 1846) was a British soldier and politician from Scotland. Background and education Murray was born in Perth, Scotland, the second son of Sir William Murray, of Ochtertyre, 5th Baronet (see Murra ...
was involved in lobbying various
Crossbench A crossbencher is an independent or minor party member of some legislatures, such as the British House of Lords and the Parliament of Australia. They take their name from the crossbenches, between and perpendicular to the government and oppositi ...
peers Peers may refer to: People * Donald Peers * Edgar Allison Peers, English academician * Gavin Peers * John Peers, Australian tennis player * Kerry Peers * Mark Peers * Michael Peers * Steve Peers * Teddy Peers (1886–1935), Welsh international ...
in the
House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the Bicameralism, upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by Life peer, appointment, Hereditary peer, heredity or Lords Spiritual, official function. Like the ...
to reject the
Chancellor of the Exchequer The chancellor of the Exchequer, often abbreviated to chancellor, is a senior minister of the Crown within the Government of the United Kingdom, and head of His Majesty's Treasury. As one of the four Great Offices of State, the Chancellor is ...
's proposed budget. In 2014, during the Scottish Independence referendum campaign, Sir Nicholas Macpherson broke with convention by publishing private advice to Chancellor of the Exchequer
George Osborne George Gideon Oliver Osborne (born Gideon Oliver Osborne; 23 May 1971) is a former British politician and newspaper editor who served as Chancellor of the Exchequer from 2010 to 2016 and as First Secretary of State from 2015 to 2016 in the ...
. The decision to publish was later criticised for compromising the impartiality of the Civil Service.


Assistant Secretaries to the Treasury

*
George Harrison George Harrison (25 February 1943 – 29 November 2001) was an English musician and singer-songwriter who achieved international fame as the lead guitarist of the Beatles. Sometimes called "the quiet Beatle", Harrison embraced Indian c ...
(1805–1826) * William Hill (1826–1828) *
James Henry Keith Stewart James Henry Keith Stewart (22 October 1783 – 18 July 1836) was a Scottish Tory Member of Parliament. Stewart was a younger son of John Stewart, 7th Earl of Galloway John Stewart, 7th Earl of Galloway, (13 March 1736 – 13 November 1806), s ...
(1828–1836) *
Alexander Spearman Sir Alexander Cadwallader Mainwaring Spearman (2 March 1901 – 5 April 1982) was a British Conservative Member of Parliament (MP). His father, who was a Commander in the Royal Navy and commanded a battalion of a Royal Naval Brigade in the Firs ...
(1836–1840) * Sir Charles Trevelyan (1840–1859) *
George Alexander Hamilton George Alexander Hamilton (29 August 1802 – 17 September 1871) was a minor British Conservative Party politician and later a prominent civil servant. He was an extremely zealous and active Protestant and a supporter of the Orange Order. Pol ...
(1859–1867)


Permanent Secretaries to the Treasury

*
George Alexander Hamilton George Alexander Hamilton (29 August 1802 – 17 September 1871) was a minor British Conservative Party politician and later a prominent civil servant. He was an extremely zealous and active Protestant and a supporter of the Orange Order. Pol ...
(1867–1870) * Sir Ralph Lingen (1870–1885) * Sir Reginald Welby (1885–1894) * Sir Francis Mowatt (1894–1903) (''jointly from 1902'') * Sir Edward Hamilton (1902–1908) (''joint'') *
Sir George Murray Sir George Murray (6 February 1772 – 28 July 1846) was a British soldier and politician from Scotland. Background and education Murray was born in Perth, Scotland, the second son of Sir William Murray, of Ochtertyre, 5th Baronet (see Murra ...
(1903–1911) (''jointly until 1908'') * Sir Robert Chalmers (1911–1913) (''joint'') * Sir Thomas Heath (1911–1916) (''joint'') * Sir John Bradbury (1913–1919) (''joint'') * Sir Robert Chalmers (1916–1919) (''joint'') * Sir Warren Fisher (1919–1939) * Sir Horace Wilson (1939–1942) * Sir Richard Hopkins (1942–1945) * Sir Edward Bridges (1945–1956) * Sir Norman Brook (1956–1962) (''jointly until 1959 and from 1960'') * Sir Roger Makins (1956–1959) (''joint'') * Sir Frank Lee (1960–1962) (''joint'') *
Sir William Armstrong William George Armstrong, 1st Baron Armstrong, (26 November 1810 – 27 December 1900) was an English engineer and industrialist who founded the Armstrong Whitworth manufacturing concern on Tyneside. He was also an eminent scientist, inventor ...
(1962–1968) (''jointly until 1963 and from 1968'') * Sir Laurence Helsby (1962–1968) (''joint'') * Sir Douglas Allen (1968–1974) (''jointly until 1968'') * Sir Douglas Wass (1974–1983) * Sir Peter Middleton (1983–1991) * Sir Terence Burns (1991–1998) * Sir Andrew Turnbull (1998–2002) * Sir Gus O'Donnell (2002–2005) * Sir Nicholas Macpherson (2005–2016) * Sir Tom Scholar (2016–2022) *
James Bowler James Bernard Bowler (February 5, 1875 – July 18, 1957) was an American politician from Chicago, Illinois. He served three terms as a United States House of Representatives, United States Representative for Illinois. Elected at age 78, Bowle ...
(2022-Present) Since March 2009, Sir Tom Scholar had served as the Treasury's Second Permanent Secretary. The post of Head of the
Government Economic Service The Government Economic Service (GES) is a professional grouping of public sector economists who work across some 40 departments and agencies of His Majesty's Government (HMG). The GES Board is chaired by the Head of the GES and consists of gover ...
had been held by Sir Nicholas Stern (now Lord Stern of Brentford) until June 2007, since when it has been jointly held by
Vicky Pryce Vasiliki "Vicky" Pryce (' Kourmouzi ( el, Βασιλική Κουρμούζη); born 15 July 1952) is a Greek-born British economist and a former Joint Head of the United Kingdom's Government Economic Service. She is currently the Chief Econom ...
, Chief Economic Adviser and Director General of Economics at BIS(until 2010), and Dave Ramsden, Managing Director, Macroeconomic and Fiscal Policy Directorate.


References

* * David Butler and Gareth Butler, ''Twentieth Century British Political Facts 1900–2000'', Macmillan 2000, p. 306. {{HM Treasury, state=collapsed HM Treasury Civil Service (United Kingdom) Civil service positions in the United Kingdom 1805 establishments in the United Kingdom