Secretary of State for Health and Social Care explained

Post:	Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
Insignia:	Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom (HM Government) (2022).svg
Insigniacaption:	Royal Arms of His Majesty's Government
Incumbent:	Wes Streeting
Incumbentsince:	5 July 2024
Department:	Department of Health and Social Care
Style:	Health Secretary The Right Honourable
Type:	Minister of the Crown
Status:	Secretary of State
Reports To:	The Prime Minister
Seat:	Westminster
Nominator:	The Prime Minister
Appointer:	The Monarch
Termlength:	At His Majesty's pleasure
Formation:	14 October 1854: 8 January 2018:
Salary:	£159,038 per annum ^[1] (including £86,584 MP salary)^[2]
First:	Benjamin Hall

The secretary of state for health and social care, also referred to as the health secretary, is a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, responsible for the work of the Department of Health and Social Care.^[3] The incumbent is a member of the Cabinet of the United Kingdom.

The position can trace its roots back to the nineteenth century, and has been a secretary of state position since 1968. For 30 years, from 1988 to 2018, the position was titled Secretary of State for Health, before Prime Minister Theresa May added "and Social Care" to the designation in the 2018 British cabinet reshuffle.^[4]

The office holder works alongside the other health and social care ministers. The corresponding shadow minister is the shadow secretary of state for health and social care, and the secretary of state is also scrutinised by the Health and Social Care Select Committee.^[5]

The position is currently held by Wes Streeting since 5 July 2024.

Responsibilities

Corresponding to what is generally known as a health minister in many other countries, the health secretary's remit includes the following:

• Oversight of England's National Health Service, including:
  • Delivery of care
  • Performance
  • Fiscal consolidation
  • Financial management^[6]
• Matters concerning England's social care policy (although responsibility is shared with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government in respect of adult social care, and the Department for Education in respect of children's social care).
• Matters concerning England's national public health
• Relations with international health partnerships (WHO)

History

The first Boards of Health were created by Orders in Council dated 21 June, 14 November and 21 November 1831. In 1848, a General Board of Health was created with lay members as its leadership^[7] and the first commissioner of woods and forests as its president. In 1854, this board was reconstituted and the president appointed separately. However, the board was abolished in 1858 and its function of overseeing the local boards was transferred to a new Local Government Act Office within the Home Office. From 1871, that function was transferred to the new Local Government Board.

The Ministry of Health was created by the Ministry of Health Act 1919 as a reconstruction of the Local Government Board. Local government functions were eventually transferred to the minister of housing and local government, leaving the Health Ministry in charge of Health proper.

From 1968, it was amalgamated with the Ministry of Social Security under the secretary of state for social services, until a de-merger of the Department of Health and Social Security on 25 July 1988.

Since devolution in 1999, the position holder's responsibility for the NHS is mainly restricted to the health service in England, with the holder's counterparts in Scotland and Wales responsible for the NHS in Scotland and Wales. Prior to devolution, the secretaries of state for Scotland and Wales had those respective responsibilities, but the Department of Health had a larger role than now in the co-ordination of health policy across Great Britain. Health services in Northern Ireland have always had separate arrangements from the rest of the UK, and are currently the responsibility of the health minister in the Northern Ireland Executive.

A small number of health issues remain reserved matters, that is, they are not devolved.

According to Jeremy Hunt the department receives more letters than any other government department and there are 50 officials in the correspondence unit.^[8]

List of ministers

Colour key (for political parties):

President of the Board of Health (1848-1858)

President of the Board			Term of office		Political party	Prime Minister
							Lord John Russell
		The Earl of Carlisle	1848	17 April 1849	Whig
		Lord Seymour	17 April 1849	1 August 1851	Whig
		Lord Seymour	1 August 1851	21 February 1852	Whig
		Lord John Manners	4 March 1852	17 December 1852	Conservative		The Earl of Derby
		William Molesworth	5 January 1853	14 October 1854	Radical		The Earl of Aberdeen
height=30 style="background-color:; border-bottom:solid 0 gray"			Benjamin Hall	14 October 1854	13 August 1855	Whig
							The Viscount Palmerston
		William Cowper	13 August 1855	9 February 1857	Whig
		William Monsell	9 February 1857	24 September 1857	Whig
		William Cowper	24 September 1857	21 February 1858	Whig
		Charles Adderley	8 March 1858	1 September 1858	Conservative		The Earl of Derby
Board of Health abolished in 1858; responsibilities transferred to the Privy Council (1858–1871), then the Local Government Board (1871–1919).

Minister of Health (1919–1968)

Minister			Term of office		Political party	Ministry
		Christopher Addison	24 June 1919	1 April 1921	Liberal	Lloyd George II
		Alfred Mond	1 April 1921	19 October 1922	Liberal
		Arthur Griffith-Boscawen	24 October 1922	7 March 1923	Conservative	Law
		Neville Chamberlain	7 March 1923	27 August 1923	Conservative
						Baldwin I
		William Joynson-Hicks	27 August 1923	22 January 1924	Conservative
		John Wheatley	22 January 1924	3 November 1924	Labour		MacDonald I
		Neville Chamberlain	6 November 1924	4 June 1929	Conservative		Baldwin II
		Arthur Greenwood	7 June 1929	24 August 1931	Labour		Macdonald II
		Neville Chamberlain	25 August 1931	5 November 1931	Conservative		National I
		Hilton Young	5 November 1931	7 June 1935	Conservative		National II
		Kingsley Wood	7 June 1935	16 May 1938	Conservative		National III
						National IV
		Walter Elliot	16 May 1938	13 May 1940	Unionist
							Chamberlain War
		Malcolm MacDonald	13 May 1940	8 February 1941	National Labour	Churchill War
		Ernest Brown	8 February 1941	11 November 1943	National Liberal
		Henry Willink	11 November 1943	26 July 1945	Conservative
							Churchill Caretaker
		Aneurin Bevan	3 August 1945	17 January 1951	Labour		Attlee I
						Attlee II
		Hilary Marquand	17 January 1951	26 October 1951	Labour
		Harry Crookshank	30 October 1951	7 May 1952	Conservative	Churchill III
		Iain Macleod	7 May 1952	20 December 1955	Conservative
						Eden
		Robin Turton	20 December 1955	16 January 1957	Conservative
		Dennis Vosper	16 January 1957	17 September 1957	Conservative	Macmillan I
		Derek Walker-Smith	17 September 1957	27 July 1960	Conservative
						Macmillan II
		Enoch Powell	27 July 1960	20 October 1963	Conservative
		Anthony Barber	20 October 1963	16 October 1964	Conservative		Douglas-Home
		Kenneth Robinson	18 October 1964	1 November 1968	Labour		Wilson I
Post merged with Ministry for Social Security in 1968.

Secretary of State for Social Services (1968–1988)

See main article: Secretary of State for Social Services.

Secretary of State			Term of office		Political party	Ministry
		Richard Crossman	1 November 1968	19 June 1970	Labour		Wilson II
		Keith Joseph	20 June 1970	4 March 1974	Conservative		Heath
		Barbara Castle	5 March 1974	8 April 1976	Labour		Wilson III
		David Ennals	8 April 1976	4 May 1979	Labour		Callaghan
		Patrick Jenkin	5 May 1979	14 September 1981	Conservative	Thatcher I
		Norman Fowler	14 September 1981	13 June 1987	Conservative
						Thatcher II
		John Moore	13 June 1987	25 July 1988	Conservative		Thatcher III
Post split into Secretary of State for Social Security and Secretary of State for Health in 1988.

Secretary of State for Health (1988–2018)

Secretary of State			Term of office		Political party	Ministry
		Kenneth Clarke	25 July 1988	2 November 1990	Conservative	Thatcher III
		William Waldegrave	2 November 1990	10 April 1992	Conservative
							Major I
		Virginia Bottomley	10 April 1992	5 July 1995	Conservative	Major II
		Stephen Dorrell	5 July 1995	2 May 1997	Conservative
		Frank Dobson	3 May 1997	11 October 1999	Labour	Blair I
		Alan Milburn	11 October 1999	13 June 2003	Labour
Blair II
		John Reid	13 June 2003	6 May 2005	Labour
		Patricia Hewitt	6 May 2005	28 June 2007	Labour		Blair III
		Alan Johnson	28 June 2007	5 June 2009	Labour	Brown
		Andy Burnham	5 June 2009	11 May 2010	Labour
		Andrew Lansley	11 May 2010	4 September 2012	Conservative	Cameron–Clegg
		Jeremy Hunt	4 September 2012	8 January 2018	Conservative
						Cameron II
						May I
						May II

Secretary of State for Health and Social Care (2018–present)

Secretary of State			Term of office		Political party	Ministry
		Jeremy Hunt	8 January 2018	9 July 2018	Conservative	May II
		Matt Hancock	9 July 2018	26 June 2021	Conservative
							Johnson I
						Johnson II
		Sajid Javid	26 June 2021	5 July 2022	Conservative
		Steve Barclay	5 July 2022	6 September 2022	Conservative
		Thérèse Coffey	6 September 2022	25 October 2022	Conservative		Truss
		Steve Barclay	25 October 2022	13 November 2023	Conservative	Sunak
		Victoria Atkins	13 November 2023	5 July 2024	Conservative
		Wes Streeting	5 July 2024	Incumbent	Labour		Starmer

See also

• Health and Social Care minister
• Minister of Health

Notes and References

1. Web site: Salaries of Members of His Majesty's Government – Financial Year 2022–23 . 15 December 2022.
2. Web site: Pay and expenses for MPs . 15 December 2022 . parliament.uk.
3. Web site: Secretary of State for Health and Social Care. 29 June 2021. gov.uk.
4. Web site: Jeremy Hunt keeps Heath Secretary with added social care brief despite overseeing NHS 'winter crisis' . The Independent . 5 April 2021 . 8 January 2018 . Jeremy Hunt has kept his job as Health Secretary, despite overseeing what is widely viewed as a winter crisis in the NHS. However, Theresa May has added social care to his responsibilities, to signal her determination to sort out one of the biggest issues facing the country..
5. Web site: Health Secretary answers questions on the Government's handling of the pandemic . UK PARLIAMENT . 4 June 2021 . 12 March 2022 . Matt Hancock MP, Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, answers questions from MPs on the Government's handling of the covid-19 pandemic..
6. Web site: Secretary of State for Health and Social Care - GOV.UK. gov.uk.
7. Web site: 4 Dec 1848, 5 - The Observer at Newspapers.com. 2022-01-14. Newspapers.com. en.
8. Book: Hunt . Jeremy . Zero . 2022 . Swift Press . London . 9781800751224 . 14 .