Playing away from Home

When all government powers were held by one person (Kings - who made the law; carried it out; and personally judged in disputes) - the developing institutions sat where he was. If the King was in Oxford, Parliament met at Oxford.

With time the powers drained from the King to the institutions themselves. They gained permanent places to meet - so today we have the Houses of Parliament; the Supreme Court Building (formerly known as Middlesex Guildhall); the Royal Courts of Justice - and 10 Downing Street.

For most of the 20th Century Cabinet meetings were held in no 10, but recently the Cabinet has "played away from home." A recent House of Commons Library paper lists these meetings.

It can be accessed here.

The Structure of Government Departments (UK)

Listen to a classic conversation from the first episode of "Yes Minster" here.

There are a lot of 'Secretaries' in a Government Department! There are two structures within a typical Government Department.

The Political Structure

The Political Head of a Department is usually called the "Secretary of State for (name of Department)". Sometimes they are known by a different title (The Chancellor of the Exchequer - who has overall responsibility for the Treasury. The Secretary of State for Justice currently has the title of 'Lord Chancellor') - They will be members of the Cabinet.

The next rung down is the Minister of State. At the most junior paid level is the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State.

Some of the Ministers may be assisted by a PPS (Parliamentary Private Secretary). These are unpaid MPs who acts as a minister's eyes and ears in Parliament, making sure the minister is kept well informed of backbench opinion. While they are not members of the Government, they are regarded as part of the "payroll vote" and are expected to vote with the government - or resign. It is often the first step towards a ministerial career.

Press Here to see the Ministers in the Department of Energy & Climate Change. and Here for the Ministry of Justice.

The Civil Service Structure

In the UK Ministers are assisted by Civil Servants - who are professional staff, not political appointments. There are strict restrictions on their political activity. The most senior Civil Servant in a Department is the Permanent Secretary. They run the civil service within that Department and are also the "Accounting Officer" for the Department. There is an excellent guide to the Civil Service available here. [See about us: Leadership]

Larger Departments may have an official known as the "Second Permanent Secretary". At the next level down are the "Director-Generals". The Structure within DECC is available on a pdf. here.

Ministers have their own Private Office, headed by their Private Secretary. The Private Secretary to the Secretary of State is the Principal Private Secretary.

Cabinet Meetings Outside London

Last night I was in Birmingham at a reception for the Prime Minister. He is currently touring the regions of the UK before Parliament returns on Monday. Earlier in the day a meeting of the Cabinet had been held in Liverpool. It's the third time since September that the Cabinet has met outside London. The other meetings of the Cabinet were held in November in Leeds (Yorkshire) and in September in Birmingham (West Midlands). The last meeting outside London prior to September was in 1921 in Inverness (Scotland), where Lloyd George was when he summoned the Cabinet to meet him to discuss Ireland. http://www.ambaile.org.uk/en/item/item_photograph.jsp?item_id=5662(Although it has since been revealed that the Cabinet did hold an impromptu meeting in Brighton in 1966 during the Labour Party Conference to discuss a proposal to activate statutory powers to enforce a freeze on prices and incomes.)

There is no requirement for the Cabinet to meet in London - but the United Kingdom has traditionally had a very centralised government. Brown took a lot of criticism yesterday after figures were produced which suggested that regional Cabinets cost £200,000 a time (http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/cabinet-meetings-outside-london-cost-pound200000-each-1230639.html) - but it's a clear sign that decentralisation continues to be on the agenda.