Parliamentary under-secretary of state
Junior minister in the government of the United Kingdom From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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
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| Ministers of the Crown (Parliamentary Secretaries) Act 1960 | |
|---|---|
| Act of Parliament | |
 | |
| Long title | An Act to replace the existing limits on the numbers of Parliamentary Secretaries in individual departments by a single aggregate limit; to authorise the payment of a salary to a Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Science; and to increase the salary of the Captain of the Gentlemen-at-Arms. |
| Citation | 9 & 10 Eliz. 2. c. 6 |
| Dates | |
| Royal assent | 20 December 1960 |
| Other legislation | |
| Amended by |
|
Status: Partially repealed | |
| Text of statute as originally enacted | |
| Text of the Ministers of the Crown (Parliamentary Secretaries) Act 1960 as in force today (including any amendments) within the United Kingdom, from legislation.gov.uk. | |
The Ministerial and Other Salaries Act 1975 (c. 27) 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
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There are 44 Parliamentary Under-Secretaries of State, of whom six are unpaid.
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)
- Ministry of Justice
- Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice
- Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State[10]
- Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State[11]
- Ministry of Defence
- Department of Health and Social Care
- Department for Energy Security and Net Zero
- Department for Business and Trade
- Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Services, Small Business and Exports (joint with UK Export Finance)
- Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Employment Rights, Competition and Markets
- Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Legislation[15]
- Department for Work and Pensions
- Department for Education
- Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Children and Families
- Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Equalities (Race and Ethnicity)[16]
- Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Equalities (LGBT+)[17]
- Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Early Education[18]
- Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
- Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Water and Flooding[19]
- Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Nature
- Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Lords Minister)[20]
- Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
- Department for Transport
- Department for Culture, Media and Sport
- Department for Science, Innovation and Technology
- Scotland Office
- Wales Office
- Northern Ireland Office
- UK Export Finance
- Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Services, Small Business and 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
- Ministry of 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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