Parliamentary under-secretary of state explained

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

The Ministerial and Other Salaries Act 1975 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.^{[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).^[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

There are 44 Parliamentary Under-Secretaries of State, of whom six are unpaid.

The current Parliamentary Under-Secretaries of State are:^[9]

• HM Treasury
  • Economic Secretary to the Treasury
  • Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury
• Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (see Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs)
  • Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Indo-Pacific
  • Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Africa
  • Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Middle East, Afghanistan and Pakistan
  • Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Latin America and Caribbean
• Home Office (see Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department)
  • Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Safeguarding and Violence Against Women and Girls
  • Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Migration and Citizenship
• 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
  • Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Armed Forces
  • Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Veterans and People
• Department of Health and Social Care
  • Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Public Health and Prevention
  • Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Mental Health and Women's Health Strategy
• Department for Energy Security and Net Zero
  • Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Climate^[12]
  • Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Energy^[13]
  • Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Energy Consumers^[14]
• 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
  • Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transformation
  • Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for 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
  • Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Homelessness and Democracy^[21]
  • Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Local Growth and Building Saftey^[22]
  • Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Lords Minister)^[23]
  • Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Faith and Communities^[24]
• Department for Transport
  • Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Local Transport^[25]
  • Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Future Roads^[26]
  • Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Aviation, Maritime and Security^[27]
• Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
  • Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Sport, Media, Civil Society and Youth
  • Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Gambling
• Department for Science, Innovation and Technology
  • Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for AI and Digital Government
  • Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Future Digital Economy and Online Safety
• Office of the Secretary of State for Scotland
  • Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Scotland
• Office of the Secretary of State for Wales
  • Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Wales
• Northern Ireland Office
  • Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
• 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
  • Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union
• Department of Health and Social Care
  • Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Health
• Technology
  • Parliamentary Secretary, 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

• Parliamentary secretary
• Permanent secretary
• Private secretary
• Undersecretary

Notes and References

1. Book: Brazier, Rodney. 1997. Clarendon Press. 0-19-825988-3. 13. Rodney Brazier.
2. Web site: Cabinet Manual . Cabinet Office . Cabinet Office . . Oct 2011 . 12 Jan 2018 . 1st .
3. Web site: Ministerial and Other Salaries Act 1975, c.27 . 19 Jan 2018.
4. Limitations on the number of Ministers . Maer . Lucinda . Kelly . Richard . Briefing Paper . 3378 . House of Commons Library . 10 Aug 2017 . 19 Jan 2018 .
5. Web site: House of Commons Disqualification Act 1975, c.24 . 19 Jan 2018.
6. Ministers in the House of Lords . Maer . Lucinda . Briefing Paper . 5226 . House of Commons Library . 4 Sep 2017 . 19 Jan 2018 .
7. Web site: Parliamentary Private Secretaries - Glossary page . UK Parliament website . . 12 Jan 2018.
8. 10.1093/ref:odnb/93731. Ziegler. Philip. 3 January 2008. 8 January 2015. Cavendish, Andrew Robert Buxton, eleventh duke of Devonshire (1920–2004), landowner.
9. Web site: Ministers - GOV.UK. 2025-01-13. www.gov.uk. en.
10. Web site: Parliamentary Under Secretary of State - GOV.UK. 13 January 2025. www.gov.uk. en.
11. Web site: Parliamentary Under Secretary of State - GOV.UK. 13 January 2025. www.gov.uk. en.
12. Web site: Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Minister for Climate)- GOV.UK. 13 January 2025. www.gov.uk. en.
13. Web site: Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Minister for Energy)- GOV.UK. 13 January 2025. www.gov.uk. en.
14. Web site: Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Minister for Energy Consumers)- GOV.UK. 13 January 2025. www.gov.uk. en.
15. Web site: Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Minister for Legislation) - GOV.UK. 13 January 2025. www.gov.uk. en.
16. Web site: Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Minister for Equalities) - GOV.UK. 13 January 2025. www.gov.uk. en.
17. Web site: Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Minister for Equalities) - GOV.UK. 13 January 2025. www.gov.uk. en.
18. Web site: Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Minister for Early Education) - GOV.UK. 13 January 2025. www.gov.uk. en.
19. Web site: Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Minister for Water and Flooding) - GOV.UK. 13 January 2025. www.gov.uk. en.
20. Web site: Parliamentary Under Secretary of State - GOV.UK. 13 January 2025. www.gov.uk. en.
21. Web site: Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Minister for Homelessness and Democracy) - GOV.UK. 13 January 2025. www.gov.uk. en.
22. Web site: Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Minister for Local Growth and Building Safety) - GOV.UK. 13 January 2025. www.gov.uk. en.
23. Web site: Parliamentary Under Secretary of State - GOV.UK. 13 January 2025. www.gov.uk. en.
24. Web site: Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Minister for Faith and Communities) - GOV.UK. 21 August 2021. www.gov.uk. en.
25. Web site: Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Minister for Local Transport) - GOV.UK. 21 August 2021. www.gov.uk. en.
26. Web site: Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Minister for Future Roads) - GOV.UK. 21 August 2021. www.gov.uk. en.
27. Web site: Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Minister for Future Roads) - GOV.UK. 21 August 2021. www.gov.uk. en.