ONE AND MANY ‐ THE OFFICE OF SECRETARY OF STATE
| Date | 01 December 1992 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9299.1992.tb00954.x |
| Published date | 01 December 1992 |
| Author | A. J. C. SIMCOCK |
ONE
AND
MANY
-
THE OFFICE OF SECRETARY OF
STATE
A.
J.
C. SIMCOCK
'Neither confounding the Persons: nor dividing the Substance'
-
The Creed
of
St Athanusius, The
Book
of
Common Prayer
This article seeks to explain the nature of the office of Secretary of State in the United
Kingdom, and how these arrangements have come about. It traces the office from its
mediaeval origins, and finds the explanation partly in the development
of
Tudor govem-
ment, and partly in the politics of the eighteenth century. It then traces the modem
development
of
this doctrine and some
of
the ramifications to which it has given rise.
Fourteen out of the twenty-two members of the British Cabinet hold the same office. Yet
simultaneously they are described by fourteen different titles. The office that they share
is that of 'Secretary of State': their various titles are the 'Secretary
of
State for Foreign
and Commonwealth Affairs', the 'Secretary of State for the Home Department' and
so
on. The purpose of this article is to explain these curious arrangements, which rival in
complexity the Athanasian doctrine of the Trinity, and to show how they have come about.
THE
DOCTRINE
The doctrine that all the Secretaries of State hold a single office stems from the
nature of the office.
As
will be seen, the office has its origin in the function of
looking after the monarchs signet. Like the offices of the other custodians of seals
such as the Lord High Chancellor or the Chancellor of the Duchy
of
Lancaster,
the office
is
conferred by the delivery of the seals. Each Secretary of State receives
an identical
set
of
three seals. These are: the
signet,
in the strict sense of the word,
used
only
in
the Foreign and Commonwealth office, for example warrants to apply
the Great Seal to full powers and ratifications; the
second secretarial seal,
used
mainly by the Home Office and the Scottish Office to seal commissions and
warrants under the
sign
manual and the
cachet,
used
to seal the envelopes of letters
to other sovereigns (Anson
1935,
vol. ii(i), p.
182).
The identity of the seals they
receive is thus the physical expression
of
the existence
of
a single office.
This identity is shown by the way in which in
1926
Leo Amery received the
additional new office of Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs: he needed
to
A.
J.
C.
Simcock is an Assistant Secretary in the Department
of
the Environment. This article was
a commended essay in the
RIPAs
1991
Haldane Essay Competition.
Public Administration
Vol.
70
Winter
1992
(535-553)
0
1992
Public Administration
ISSN
0033-3298 $3.00
536
A.
J.
C.
SIMCOCK
be sworn in a hurry to meet a statutory deadline; there was not time to have a
new set of seals cut; he therefore sent back
to
Buckingham Palace the seals which
he already held as Colonial Secretary, and shortly afterwards went to the Palace
and received them back for his new office (Amery 1953, vol.
11,
p.
335).
The most obvious consequence of the doctrine is to be found in the standard
drafting
technique of British legislation. With only the rarest of exceptions,
all
British
legislation, whether primary (in Acts of Parliament) or secondary (in Orders in
Council, regulations, orders and other statutory instruments), confers functions
on 'the Secretary of State', without further specification. A couple of examples
out of thousands must suffice:
The Secretary
of
State may by order repeal this Part of this Act (Transport
Act 1985 (ch.
67), s.46(1)).
Subject to the provisions of this Chapter,
.
.
.it shall
be
the duty of the Secretary
of State to maintain any school conducted by a governing body incorporated
under this Chapter for the purpose of conducting the school (Education Reform
Act
1988
(ch.
40),
s.52(1)).
A function conferred in this way can be exercised by any Secretary of State, even
where the responsibility for it is normally divided between several different
Secretaries of State. A recent example of this was given in implementing the Local
Government and Housing Act 1989. Section
1
of this Act provides for statutory
restrictions on public political activity by senior local govement officers. Section 2
defines these senior local government officers by reference,
inter
uliu,
to a rate
of remuneration which 'is or exceeds E19,500 or such higher amount as may be
specified in or determined under regulations made by the Secretary of State' (Local
Government and Housing Act 1989 (ch.
42),
s.2(2)(a)). Two sets of regulations
have been made to specify the salary levels, each applying (though with certain
variations) throughout England, Scotland and Wales. The first set were made by
a single Secretary of State. The enacting formula said simply
The Secretary of State, in exercise of the powers conferred on him by sections
2(2)(a) and 190(1) of the Local Government and Housing Act 1989, and of all
other powers enabling him in that behalf, hereby makes the following Regula-
tions.
.
. .
(The Local Government (Politically Restricted Posts) Regulations 1990
(SI
1990/42)).
and the slngle signatory (Christopher Patten) was described as 'One of Her Majesty's
Principal Secretaries of State'. When the second set (revoking and replacing the
first by providing a more permanent way of defining the salary level) was made,
three Secretaries of State joined in. The enacting formula ran
The Secretary of State for the Environment, as respects England, the Secretary of
State for Scotland, as respects Scotland, and the Secretary of State for Wales, as
respects Wales, in exercise of the powers conferred on them by sections 2(2)(a) and
190(1) of the Local Government and Housing Act 1989, and of all other powers
enabling them
in
that behalf, hereby make the following Regulations.
.
.(The
Local
Governm$nt (Politically Restricted Posts)
(No.
2) Regulations
(SI
199011447)).
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