Home Secretary

Infobox minister office
border = parliamentary
minister = not_prime
office = Secretary of State for the Home Department


incumbent = Jacqui Smith
tookoffice = 28 June 2007
appointed_by = Gordon Brown
governor = Prime Minister
first_minister = William Petty
date = 27 March 1782The Secretary of State for the Home Department, commonly known as the Home Secretary, is the minister in charge of the United Kingdom Home Office and is one of the Great Offices of State. The Home Secretary is responsible for internal affairs in England and Wales, and for immigration and citizenship for the whole of the United Kingdom (England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland).

The remit of the UK ministry includes policing, national security, immigration, and matters of citizenship.

The current Home Secretary is Jacqui Smith.

Responsibilities

The Home Secretary is currently responsible for:

* Police
* Crime
* Terrorism
* Citizenship
* Identity cards and passports

Constitutional & Legal Affairs

The Home Secretary has no responsibility for the Courts of England and Wales. Unlike many other governments issues usually dealt with by a Department of Justice, the British government has three separate departments: The Home Office (as specified above), the Attorney General's Office and the Ministry of Justice, headed by the Secretary of State for Justice, for legal, judicial and civil rights issues.

Development of other government departments

Because the Home Office was initially the primary government department with responsibility for domestic affairs, all subsequent domestic departments have effectively been created by taking responsibilities from the Home Office. Until 2001 this left a variety of miscellaneous tasks that sat apart from the law and order functions of the department, such as British Summer Time or wild birds in Scotland. [Roy Jenkins "Churchill" (Macmillan, 2001), page 170 ISBN 0-333-78290-9] However, on the appointment of David Blunkett as Home Secretary, these functions - and others such as responsibility for the Fire Brigade - have been reallocated to other departments to give the position a focus solely on law and order.

Home Secretaries since 1782

References

Related pages

Related postings in other countries:

General terms

* Attorney General
* Interior minister

European positions

* Attorney General for England and Wales
*Ireland
**Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform
**Attorney General of Ireland

North and Central American positions

* Minister of Justice (Canada)
* Attorney General of Ontario and Solicitor General of Ontario
* Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness - acts as Solicitor General of Canada
* United States Attorney General
* United States Secretary of Homeland Security
* Attorney General (Mexico)

Asian positions

* Minister for Home Affairs (India)
* Indian Attorney General
* Secretary for Justice (Hong Kong) - formerly Attorney General
* Secretary for Security (Hong Kong)

Australasian positions

* Attorney-General of Australia
* Attorney-General (New Zealand)

See also

* Cabinet (government)
* Departments of the United Kingdom Government
* Ministry of Justice
* List of British ministries
* Great Offices of State
* Shadow Home Secretary

External links

* [http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk Home Office website]
* [http://www.knowledgenetwork.gov.uk/elmr/minister.nsf Electronic list of ministerial responsibilities]
* [http://www.pm.gov.uk/output/Page1371.asp Her Majesty's Government] (Cabinet Ministers)
* [http://www.number-10.gov.uk/output/Page2988.asp Full list of Her Majesty's Government] (which includes various junior Ministers too).
* [http://www.justice.gov.uk Ministry of Justice]