British Government

Terminology

While the government is the current group of ministers (the British Government frontbench), the government is also sometimes seen more broadly as including people or organisations that work for the ministers. The civil service, while 'independent of government', is sometimes described as being part of the government, due to the closeness of its working with ministers, in advising them, supporting them, and implementing their executive decisions. Some individuals who work for ministers even have the word 'Government' in their titles, such as the Government Actuary and the Government Chief Scientific Adviser, as do civil service organisations such as the Government Statistical Service, the Government Legal Profession, and the Government Office for Science. Companies owned by the government can also be seen as parts of the government, such as UK Government Investments and HS2 Ltd.