Type of UK government department
Non-ministerial government departments, also callednon-ministerial departments (NMDs), are a type ofdepartment of theUnited Kingdom government that deal with matters for which direct political oversight has been judged unnecessary or inappropriate. They are typically headed bysenior civil servants. Some fulfil aregulatory 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 aPermanent Secretary orSecond Permanent Secretary.[1]
The status of an NMD varies considerably from one to another. For example:[2]
- Senior officials inHM Revenue and Customs work closely with cabinet ministers. Its key policies are set each year in the Finance Act. However, neither ministers nor Parliament can interfere in day-to-day taxation decisions.
- A number of NMDs are highly independent bodies; for example theCharity Commission,Ofsted and economic regulators such as theCompetition and Markets Authority or thePostal Services Commission. These bodies are "creatures of statute": they implement legislation which they have no power to change. Their political independence is assured by providing that they have the status of government departments, but are accountable only to Parliament and the courts. Their budgets are usually set by the Treasury, not by the department which set them up, and they are often funded by licence fees paid by the industries which they regulate.
- TheFood Standards Agency is an NMD which was created by merging two large parts of the Departments of Health and what was then the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food. The aim was to reassure the public (after theBSE/vCJD crisis) that decisions about food safety would in future be taken by an independent body free of political control. Because the FSA was designed to take politics out of food safety, it does not seek ministerial approval for its actions.
List of non-ministerial departments
[edit]A list of NMDs is maintained by theCabinet Office, which as of January 2023[update] states that the following 45 are in existence:[3]
