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 .
46-412: A justice ministry , ministry of justice , or department of justice , is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice . The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice ( minister for justice in a very few countries) or a secretary of justice . In some countries, the head of the department may be called the attorney general , for example in
92-595: A defence policy with four primary missions for the Armed Forces: The review stated the Armed Forces will also contribute to the government's response to crises by being prepared to: Defence is governed and managed by several committees. The following organisational groups come under the control of the MOD. Top level budgets The MOD comprises seven top-level budgets . The head of each organisation
138-579: A government department and has responsibility for the strategy, performance, reform, organisation and the finances of the MOD. The role works closely with the Chief of the Defence Staff in leading the organisation and supporting Ministers in the conduct of business in the department across the full range of responsibilities. The Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015 included £178 billion investment in new equipment and capabilities. The review set
184-681: 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 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
230-489: A long time as ministries ( Finance , National Defense , Foreign Affairs , Health , etc.). The term "ministry" also continues to be used as 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
276-481: 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 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
322-549: A million people along the south coast of England, from Torquay to the New Forest , were exposed to bacteria including E.coli and Bacillus globigii , which mimics anthrax ." Two scientists commissioned by the Ministry of Defence stated that these trials posed no risk to the public. This was confirmed by Sue Ellison, a representative of the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory at Porton Down who said that
368-541: 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 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
414-563: A racial discrimination claim against the Ministry of Defence (MoD). In November 2019, mixed race soldier Mark De Kretser sued MoD for £100k claiming he was subjected to "grindingly repetitive" racist taunts from colleagues. In October 2009, the MOD was heavily criticised for withdrawing the bi-annual non-operational training £20m budget for the Territorial Army (TA), ending all non-operational training for six months until April 2010. The government eventually backed down and restored
460-408: 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 the ten provincial governments use the term ministry to describe their departments ( Ontario , Quebec , Saskatchewan , British Columbia , and Alberta ) but
506-593: A system called the Defence Sourcing Portal. A separate internal policy generally operates in respect of low value purchasing below this threshold. DEFCON contract conditions are numbered defence contract conditions are in contracts issued by the MOD (not to be confused with DEFCON as used by the United States Armed Forces , which refers to a level of military "defence readiness condition"). Examples include: A full set of
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#1732772444772552-604: Is neoclassical in style and was originally built between 1938 and 1959 to designs by Vincent Harris to house the Air Ministry and the Board of Trade . A major refurbishment of the building was completed under a Private Finance Initiative contract by Skanska in 2004. The northern entrance in Horse Guards Avenue is flanked by two monumental statues, Earth and Water , by Charles Wheeler . Opposite stands
598-617: Is "in excess of £3.3 billion". The defence estate is divided as training areas & ranges (84.0%), research & development (5.4%), airfields (3.4%), barracks & camps (2.5%), storage & supply depots (1.6%), and other (3.0%). These are largely managed by the Defence Infrastructure Organisation . The headquarters of the MOD are in Whitehall and is known as MOD Main Building . This structure
644-568: Is also the Assistant Chief of Defence Staff (Personnel). Permanent Secretary and other senior officials The Ministers and Chiefs of the Defence Staff are supported by several civilian, scientific and professional military advisors. The Permanent Under-Secretary of State for Defence (generally known as the Permanent Secretary ) is the senior civil servant at the MOD. Their role is to ensure that it operates effectively as
690-685: Is led by a minister, and the prime minister is the 23rd minister of the Lebanese government. In the European Union , 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
736-717: Is personally accountable for the performance and outputs of their particular organisation. These are: Executive agencies Executive non-departmental public bodies Advisory non-departmental public bodies Ad-hoc advisory group Other bodies Public corporations Enabling organisation In addition, the MOD is responsible for the administration of the Sovereign Base Areas of Akrotiri and Dhekelia in Cyprus. Competitive procurement processes are used whenever possible, and all new direct tender and contract opportunities valued over £10,000 are advertised on
782-701: The Gurkha Monument, sculpted by Philip Jackson and unveiled in 1997 by Queen Elizabeth II . Within it is the Victoria Cross and George Cross Memorial, and nearby are memorials to the Fleet Air Arm and RAF (to its east, facing the riverside). Henry VIII 's wine cellar at the Palace of Whitehall , built in 1514–1516 for Cardinal Wolsey , is in the basement of Main Building, and is used for entertainment. The entire vaulted brick structure of
828-575: The United States . Monaco is an example of a country that does not have a ministry of justice, but rather a Directorate of Judicial Services (head: Secretary of Justice) that oversees the administration of justice. Vatican City , a country under the sovereignty of the Holy See , also does not possess a ministry of justice. Instead, the Governorate of Vatican City State (head: President of
874-648: 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, 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
920-522: The police , law reform, and administration of the immigration and citizenship services. The duties of the ministry of justice may in some countries be split from separate responsibilities of an attorney general (often responsible for the justice system) and the interior minister (often responsible for public order). Sometimes the prison system is separated into another government department called Corrective Services. Ministry (government department) These types of organizations are usually led by
966-598: The Cabinet. The three service ministers – Admiralty, War, Air – remained in direct operational control of their respective services, but ceased to attend Cabinet. From 1946 to 1964, five Departments of State did the work of the modern Ministry of Defence: the Admiralty , the War Office , the Air Ministry , the Ministry of Aviation , and an earlier form of the Ministry of Defence. Those departments merged in 1964, and
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#17327724447721012-580: The Chiefs of Staff Committee and to co-ordinate defence matters. The post was held by the Prime Minister of the day until Clement Attlee 's government introduced the Ministry of Defence Act of 1946 . After 1946, the three posts of Secretary of State for War , First Lord of the Admiralty , and Secretary of State for Air were formally subordinated to the new Minister of Defence , who had a seat in
1058-518: The DEFCONs can be accessed via the MoD's Defence Gateway (registration required). The government noted in 2013 that the MoD's third-party expenditure was characterised by "complex, high-value contracts". Defence purchasing contributes to government ambitions to make supply chains more accessible to small and medium-sized enterprises , but the government commented that it had yet to secure good insight into
1104-725: The Defence Staff (CDS) is the professional head of the British Armed Forces and the most senior uniformed military adviser to the Secretary of State for Defence and the Prime Minister . The CDS is supported by the Vice Chief of the Defence Staff (VCDS) who deputises and is responsible for the day-to-day running of the armed services aspect of the MOD through the Central Staff, working closely alongside
1150-679: The Governorate of Vatican City State), the legislative body of the Vatican, includes a legal office. Depending on the country, specific duties may relate to organizing the justice system , overseeing the public prosecutor and national investigative agencies (e.g. the American Federal Bureau of Investigation ), and maintaining the legal system and public order . Some ministries have additional responsibilities in related policy areas such as overseeing elections , directing
1196-550: The MOD are scrutinised by the Defence Select Committee , except for Defence Intelligence which instead falls under the Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament . During the 1920s and 1930s, British civil servants and politicians, looking back at the performance of the state during World War I , concluded that there was a need for greater co-ordination between the three services that made up
1242-633: The Permanent Secretary. They are joined by the professional heads of the three British armed services ( Royal Navy , British Army and Royal Air Force ) and the Commander of Strategic Command . All personnel sit at OF-9 rank in the NATO rank system . Together the Chiefs of Staff form the Chiefs of Staff Committee with responsibility for providing advice on operational military matters and
1288-475: 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: Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom) The Ministry of Defence ( MOD or MoD ) is a ministerial department of the Government of
1334-705: The United Kingdom . It is responsible for implementing the defence policy set by the government and serves as the headquarters of the British Armed Forces . The MOD states that its principal objectives are to defend the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and its interests and to strengthen international peace and stability. The MOD also manages day-to-day running of the armed forces, contingency planning and defence procurement . The expenditure, administration and policy of
1380-401: The allocation of contracts. A government report covered by The Guardian newspaper in 2002 indicated that between 1940 and 1979, the Ministry of Defence "turned large parts of the country into a giant laboratory to conduct a series of secret germ warfare tests on the public" and many of these tests "involved releasing potentially dangerous chemicals and micro-organisms over vast swathes of
1426-649: The armed forces of the United Kingdom: the Royal Navy , the British Army and the Royal Air Force . The formation of a united ministry of defence was rejected by the coalition government of David Lloyd George in 1921, but the Chiefs of Staff Committee was formed in 1923, for the purposes of inter-service co-ordination. As rearmament became a concern during the 1930s, Stanley Baldwin created
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1472-524: 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 , 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
1518-564: The cellar was encased in steel and concrete and relocated nine feet to the west and nearly 19 feet (5.8 m) deeper in 1949, when construction was resumed at the site after World War II . This was carried out without any significant damage to the structure. The most notable fraud conviction has been that of Gordon Foxley , Director of Ammunition Procurement at the Ministry of Defence from 1981 to 1984. Police claimed he received at least £3.5m in total in corrupt payments, such as substantial bribes from overseas arms contractors aiming to influence
1564-509: The defence functions of the Ministry of Aviation Supply were merged into the Ministry of Defence in 1971. The unification of all defence activities under a single ministry was motivated by a desire to curb interservice rivalries and followed the precedent set by the American National Security Act of 1947 . The Ministers in the Ministry of Defence are as follows, with cabinet ministers in bold: The Chief of
1610-500: 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 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 ,
1656-606: The funding. The TA provides a small percentage of the UK's operational troops. Its members train on weekly evenings and monthly weekends, as well as two-week exercises generally annually and occasionally bi-annually for troops doing other courses. The cuts would have meant a significant loss of personnel and would have had adverse effects on recruitment. In 2013, it was found that the Ministry of Defence had overspent on its equipment budget by £6.5bn on orders that could take up to 39 years to fulfil. The Ministry of Defence has been criticised in
1702-605: 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 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
1748-458: 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 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
1794-459: The past for poor management and financial control. Specific examples of overspending include: In May 2024, the ministry's payroll system was reportedly targeted multiple times in a cyberattack in which personnel and their bank details were compromised. While initial reports attributed the cyberattack to China , the Minister of Defence Grant Shapps said it would take some time to conclude who
1840-475: The population without the public being told." The Ministry of Defence claims that these trials were to simulate germ warfare and that the tests were harmless. However, families who have been in the area of many of the tests are experiencing children with birth defects and physical and mental handicaps and many are asking for a public inquiry. The report estimated these tests affected millions of people, including during one period between 1961 and 1968 where "more than
1886-484: The position of Minister for Co-ordination of Defence . Ernle Chatfield, 1st Baron Chatfield held the post until the fall of the Chamberlain government in 1940. His success was limited by his lack of control over the existing Service departments, and his lack of political influence. On forming his government in 1940, Winston Churchill created the office of Minister of Defence, to exercise ministerial control over
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1932-615: The preparation and conduct of military operations. The current Chiefs of Staff are as follows. The Chief of Defence Staff is supported by several Deputy Chiefs of the Defence Staff and senior officers at OF-8 rank. Additionally, there are a number of Assistant Chiefs of Defence Staff , including the Defence Services Secretary in the Royal Household of the Sovereign of the United Kingdom , who
1978-576: The results from these trials "will save lives, should the country or our forces face an attack by chemical and biological weapons." In February 2019, former soldier Inoke Momonakaya won £458,000 payout after a legal battle for the racial harassment and bullying he received while serving in the army. In August 2019, A Commons Defence Select Committee report revealed that several female and BAME military staff have raised concerns regarding discrimination, bullying and harassment. In September 2019, two former British army soldiers Nkululeko Zulu and Hani Gue won
2024-417: The supply chain role of SMEs. The Ministry of Defence is one of the United Kingdom's largest landowners, owning 227,300 hectares of land and foreshore (either freehold or leasehold) at April 2014, which was valued at "about £20 billion". The MOD also has "rights of access" to a further 222,000 hectares. In total, this is about 1.8% of the UK land mass. The total annual cost to support the defence estate
2070-504: 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 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
2116-403: The term "ministry" and instead call their main government bodies "departments". However, in other countries such as Luxembourg a department is a subdivision of 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
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