Ministry or department (also less commonly used secretariat , office , or directorate ) are designations used by first-level executive bodies in the machinery of governments that manage a specific sector of public administration .
19-802: The Department of Health and Social Security (commonly known as the DHSS ) was a ministry of the British government in existence for twenty years from 1968 until 1988, and was headed by the Secretary of State for Social Services . In 1953, the Ministry of Pensions and the Ministry of National Insurance were merged to create the Ministry of Pensions and National Insurance . In 1966, the Supplementary Benefits Commission (part of
38-506: A minister is referred to as his or her "portfolio". In the United Kingdom , all government organisations that consist of civil servants, and which may or may not be headed by a government minister or secretary of state , are considered to be departments . Until 2018, the term "ministry" had been retained only for the Ministry of Defence and the Ministry of Justice . On 8 January 2018, Prime Minister Theresa May announced that
57-527: A ministerial office and hence the minister, is referred to as the minister's "portfolio". New Zealand 's state agencies include many ministries and a smaller number of departments. Increasingly, state agencies are styled neither as ministries nor as departments. All New Zealand agencies are under the direction of one or more ministers or associate ministers, whether they are styled ministries or not. Each body also has an apolitical chief executive, and in ministries and departments these chief executives often have
76-420: A ministry, usually led by a government member called a secretary of state who is subordinate to the minister. In Australia at the federal level, and also at the state level, the term ministry refers to the ministerial office held by a member of Cabinet , the executive, which is then responsible for one or more departments , the top division of the public service. The collection of departments responsible to
95-470: A more flexible organization. Although the term "ministry" has been eliminated from the Government communication and from most of the new published laws, it continues to be used in some legislation, especially those referring to some government areas that existed for a long time as ministries ( Finance , National Defense , Foreign Affairs , Health , etc.). The term "ministry" also continues to be used as
114-447: A political portfolio . Governments may have differing numbers and types of ministries and departments. In some countries, these terms may be used with specific meanings: for example, an office may be a subdivision of a department or ministry. The federal Government of Canada uses the term department to refer to its first-level executive bodies. In Canada , first-level subdivisions are known as provinces and territories . Five of
133-552: A type of department of the United Kingdom government that deal with matters for which direct political oversight has been judged unnecessary or inappropriate. They are headed by senior civil servants . Some fulfil a regulatory or inspection function , and their status is therefore intended to protect them from political interference. Some are headed by a permanent office holder, such as a Permanent Secretary or Second Permanent Secretary . The status of an NMGD varies considerably from one to another. For example: A list of NMGDs
152-579: The National Assistance Board ) was merged with the Ministry of Pensions and National Insurance to form the new Ministry of Social Security , as part of the Ministry of Social Security Act 1966 . In 1968, the Ministry of Social Security and the Ministry of Health were dissolved and their functions merged into a new Department of Health and Social Security by an Order in Council which came into operation on 1 November 1968. Although
171-557: The Department of Communities and Local Government would be renamed to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government to emphasise her government's prioritising of housing policy. In September 2021, Prime Minister Boris Johnson reverted the ministry to a department, renaming it the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities and giving it the responsibility of overseeing his government's levelling up policy . It
190-498: The Peninsular Malaysia states use committee , while Sabah and Sarawak state governments following the federal government's style in naming certain portfolios. In Hong Kong , the term bureau is used, and departments are subordinate to the bureaus. In Mexico , ministries are referred to as secretariats . In 1999, the ministries of the federal government of Belgium became known as federal public service ,
209-597: The United Kingdom or its constituent countries is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Ministry (government department) These types of organizations are usually led by a politician who is a member of a cabinet —a body of high-ranking government officials—who may use a title such as minister , secretary , or commissioner, and are typically staffed with members of a non-political civil service , who manage its operations; they may also oversee other government agencies and organizations as part of
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#1732772428468228-419: The department was titled 'Department of Health and Social Security', the title of the cabinet minister with responsibility for the department was 'secretary of state for social services'. In 1988 the department was split again into a separate Department of Health and the Department of Social Security . In 2001 the Department for Work and Pensions was formed from the Department of Social Security, absorbing
247-458: The employment functions which had previously been the responsibility of the Department for Education and Employment since the dissolution of the Department of Employment in 1995. Even two and a half decades after its abolition, the initials "DHSS" continue to be used by the general public to describe the Department for Work and Pensions or some of the benefits it provides (such as Income Support ). This article related to government in
266-880: The equivalent organisation to a national government department is termed directorate-general with the civil servant in charge called a director-general (in the European Commission , the political head of the department is one of the European Commissioners ). The government departments of the Soviet Union were termed people's commissariats between 1917 and 1946. Ministry was used, thereafter. The term ministry has also been widely used in fiction, notably in satires and parodies. Portrayals of various fictional government ministries include: Non-ministerial government department Non-ministerial government departments ( NMGDs ) are
285-662: The exception being the Ministry of Defense which kept the original designation. In the Republic of China , ministry is used. In the People's Republic of China , ministry is used. In Portugal , the organization adopted by the XXI (2015–2019) and the XXII (2019-2024) governments ceased to expressly foresee the existence of ministries, with the portfolios of the ministers being instead referred as "government areas" and having, in theory,
304-440: The ten provincial governments use the term ministry to describe their departments ( Ontario , Quebec , Saskatchewan , British Columbia , and Alberta ) but the other five, as well as the three territorial governments, use the term department . Despite the difference in nomenclature, both the provincial and federal governments use the term "minister" to describe the head of a ministry or department. The specific task assigned to
323-463: The title of Secretary. In Indonesia , the term ministry ( Indonesian : Kementerian ) is used. From the New Order to 2009, the office was known as department ( Indonesian : Departemen ). In Malaysia , the term ministry is used for all but one government cabinet portfolio. The Prime Minister Department is the only portfolio that uses department instead. All government portfolios in
342-586: The vernacular to refer to a government area. In Nigeria each ministry is led by a minister who is not a member of the Nigerian legislature (due to the separation of powers) and is responsible to the popularly elected president . In Lebanon , there are 21 ministries. Each ministry is led by a minister, and the prime minister is the 23rd minister of the Lebanese government. In the European Union ,
361-581: Was then subsequently reverted to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government under the Starmer government in 2024. Some countries, such as Switzerland , the Philippines and the United States , do not use or no longer use the term "ministry" and instead call their main government bodies "departments". However, in other countries such as Luxembourg a department is a subdivision of
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