Парламенттік демократиялардағы министрлер кабинеті хатшысы лауазымы

Civil service position in several parliamentary democracies

A cabinet secretary is usually a senior official (typically a civil servant) who provides services and advice to a cabinet of ministers as part of the Cabinet Office. In many countries, the position can have considerably wider functions and powers, including general responsibility for the entire civil service. The title of cabinet secretary may also be used as an alternative term for a politically appointed cabinet minister, derived from secretary of state—the formal title for ministers. This naming convention is used in Japan, Kenya, Scotland and the United States.

In Australia the equivalent position is the Secretary of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, although both the department and its secretary have wider responsibilities than in most other governments derived from the Westminster System. Prime Minister Scott Morrison established a position entitled Cabinet Secretary in August 2019 within the Prime Minister's Office responsible for cabinet operations and appointed a former senior political adviser and intelligence official Andrew Shearer to the role. The Cabinet Secretary is also a title conferred on an Australian minister responsible for assisting the prime minister to manage the day to day procedural and operational matters of the Cabinet and any Cabinet committees. As per all other ministers in the Westminster system, the Cabinet Secretary is a sitting member of Parliament, chosen by the Prime Minister and officially appointed by the Governor General. The Cabinet Secretary is a portfolio minister of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet and has existed at various stages since 2007.

In Ireland the position of Cabinet Secretary is officially titled Secretary General to the Government (previously titled Secretary to the Government), and is concurrently Secretary General of the Department of the Taoiseach, somewhat analogous to the Cabinet Office in the United Kingdom. This department provides the secretariat to the Cabinet and co ordinates the Government Press Office. It also has some policy functions with regard to key areas such as Northern Ireland, economic policy, and public service modernisation. The role is modeled on, and is broadly similar to, the UK equivalent, though in recent times has become more constrained by the seven year time limit placed on Secretaries General in the mid 1990s following the introduction of the Strategic Management Initiative.

In Israel, the Cabinet Secretary heads an office responsible for preparing the agenda of cabinet meetings and facilitating communication between ministers. The secretariat is also responsible for presenting government initiated bills to the Knesset and for conducting certain press briefings. The secretary is appointed on the recommendation of the prime minister, with the current secretary being Yossi Fuchs.

In Japan the office of Chief cabinet secretary has been made into a ministerial post, being held by a member of the House of Representatives. This is unusual, as most countries give the position to a civil servant. The chief cabinet secretary performs much the same role as other cabinet secretaries; however, he or she is responsible for overseeing the administrative operations of Cabinet, and presiding over the Cabinet Secretariat. The post has the added function of being the government's chief press secretary.

In New Zealand the Cabinet Secretary is part of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, which provides assistance, coordination, and advice. The Cabinet Secretary also serves as Clerk of the Executive Council, the formal body on which Cabinet rests. The office of Cabinet Secretary is somewhat anomalous, by New Zealand standards, in that it is partly autonomous from the department to which it belongs. The role does not, however, have the broad powers given to its British equivalent – for example, authority over the civil service is held by the State Services Commissioner, a separate official.

In Pakistan the Cabinet Secretary is a senior civil servant who is responsible for running the Cabinet Division.

In the UK Government the Cabinet Secretary is the most senior civil servant in the country, providing policy advice to the prime minister and Cabinet. The role is currently occupied by Simon Case, appointed in September 2020 following the resignation of Mark Sedwill. From 1981 to 2011, the position of Cabinet Secretary had been combined with the roles of Head of the Home Civil Service and Cabinet Office Permanent Secretary. The first means that the Cabinet Secretary is responsible for all the civil servants of the various departments within government (except the Foreign Office), chairing the Permanent Secretaries Management Group (PSMG) which is the principal governing body of the civil service. The second means that the Cabinet Secretary is responsible for leading the government department that provides administrative support to the Prime Minister and Cabinet. The post is appointed by the prime minister with the advice of the out going Cabinet Secretary and the First Civil Service Commissioner. With the retirement of Gus O'Donnell, who served from 2005 until the end of 2011, the three roles hitherto performed by the Cabinet Secretary were split: the Cabinet Secretary would provide policy advice to the Prime Minister and Cabinet; the Head of the Home Civil Service would provide leadership for the whole Civil Service; and the Permanent Secretary would oversee the Cabinet Office. O'Donnell was succeeded by Jeremy Heywood as Cabinet Secretary, Bob Kerslake as Head of the Home Civil Service and Permanent Secretary at the Department for Communities and Local Government and Ian Watmore as lastly, Cabinet Office Permanent Secretary. The responsibilities of the job vary from time to time and depend very much on the personal qualities of both the prime minister and Cabinet Secretary of the day. In most cases the true influence of the Cabinet Secretary extends far beyond administrative matters, and reaches to the very heart of the decision making process. For instance, the Cabinet Secretary is responsible for administering the Ministerial Code which governs the conduct of ministers (also known as the Rule Book and formerly Questions of Procedure for Ministers). In this duty the Cabinet Secretary may be asked to investigate leaks within government, and enforce Cabinet discipline. This gives the unelected Cabinet Secretary some authority over elected ministers (a situation satirised in the BBC sitcom Yes, Prime Minister). The Cabinet Secretary is responsible for overseeing the intelligence services and their relationship to the government, though since 2002 this responsibility has been delegated to a full time role (initially as Security and Intelligence Co ordinator, now the Head of Intelligence, Security and Resilience working to the National Security Adviser), with the Cabinet Secretary focussing on civil service reforms to help deliver the government's policy programme.

Following the 2007 General Election of the devolved Scottish Parliament, the new First Minister Alex Salmond restyled the Scottish Executive for his Scottish National Party (SNP) administration: The term Scottish Government replaced the official legal term Scottish Executive in its own use, while members of the cabinet were retitled Cabinet Secretaries rather than Ministers, with sub cabinet members being restyled Ministers rather than Deputy Ministers.

The Secretary General of the State Council is an executive position within the State Council of the People's Republic of China. It ranks below the Premier and above the Ministers of various ministries and departments. The current secretary general is State Councilor Xiao Jie. The Secretary General is responsible for the day to day work of the State Council and is in charge of the State Council General Office.

In Hong Kong there is a politically appointed Director of the Chief Executive's Office, as well as a Permanent Secretary who is a civil servant. The position of Director was first established in 2002 as part of the 'Principal Officials Accountability System', and it was not clear whether it was a politically appointed or a civil service position. Nevertheless, its salary level was tied to that of permanent secretaries (Point 8 of the Directorate Payscale) instead of that of politically appointed secretaries. The first office holder Lam Woon Kwong was a civil servant who opted for early retirement directly from this position in January 2005; and therefore did not subsequently take up any civil service or politically appointed position. Lam was not the most senior Administrative Officer and the position did not provide him any seniority over other permanent secretaries. It was until January 2006, that the appointment of John Tsang to the position confirmed the position as a politically appointed office. Prior to his appointment, John Tsang was a politically appointed secretary, as the Secretary for Commerce, Industry and Technology. In July 2007, as part of the expansion of the political appointment system to introduce two layers of politically appointed junior secretaries, the salary level of the position was changed to tie with that of politically appointed secretaries. The office holder is also officially given the duty to co ordinate the works of different bureaus (as Hong Kong ministries are known since 1997), making the office holder politically more powerful, regardless of his or her seniority. The position of Permanent Secretary was first created as a non permanent position supernumerary post from August 2005 to January 2006, while the position of the Director was left vacant. The salary level was set as the same as other Permanent Secretaries, i. e. Point 8 of the Directorate Pay Scale, aka the D8 rank. From February 2006 onwards, the post became permanent but the salary level was changed to D6, which is lower than Permanent Secretaries in the then 11 bureaux.

In Sri Lanka the Cabinet Secretary is the head of the Cabinet Office. The post is held by a civil servant and it is equal to a Permanent Secretary.

In the United States there is an official called the Cabinet Secretary within the Executive Office of the President charged with maintaining relations between members of the Cabinet and the White House. The position is not a civil service position, instead being subject to presidential appointment. The Cabinet Secretary is Evan Ryan. However, the term "Cabinet Secretary" is also sometimes used in a generic sense to refer to one of the members of the United States Cabinet, as these people are titled Secretary (e. g., Secretary of State or Secretary of Defense). This usage is not official, and differs from the use in other countries.