Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The secretary of state for health and social care, also referred to as the health secretary, is a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, responsible for the work of the Department of Health and Social Care.[1] The incumbent is a member of the Cabinet of the United Kingdom, eighth in the ministerial ranking.[2]
| Secretary of State for Health and Social Care | |
|---|---|
.svg.png.webp) Royal Arms of His Majesty's Government | |
 Steve Barclay since 25 October 2022 | |
| Department of Health and Social Care | |
| Style | Health Secretary (informal) The Right Honourable (UK and the Commonwealth) |
| Status |
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| Member of |
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| Reports to | Prime Minister of the United Kingdom |
| Appointer | The Crown on advice of the Prime Minister |
| Term length | At His Majesty's pleasure |
| Formation | 14 October 1854 |
| First holder | Sir Benjamin Hall |
| Salary | £143,552 (including salary as MP) |
| Website | www |
| This article is part of a series on |
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The position can trace its roots back to the nineteenth century, and has been a secretary of state position since 1968. For 30 years, from 1988 to 2018, the position was titled Secretary of State for Health, before Prime Minister Theresa May added "and Social Care" to the designation in the 2018 British cabinet reshuffle.[3]
The office holder works alongside the other health and social care ministers. The corresponding shadow minister is the shadow secretary of state for health and social care, and the secretary of state is also scrutinised by the Health and Social Care Select Committee.[4]
The current health secretary is Steve Barclay who was appointed by Rishi Sunak on 25 October 2022.
Responsibilities
Corresponding to what is generally known as a health minister in many other countries, the health secretary's remit includes the following:
- Oversight of England's National Health Service, including:
- Delivery of care
- Performance
- Fiscal consolidation
- Financial management[5]
- Matters concerning England's social care policy (although responsibility is shared with the Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government in respect of adult social care, and the Department for Education in respect of children's social care).
- Matters concerning England's national public health
- Relations with international health partnerships (WHO)
History
The first Boards of Health were created by Orders in Council dated 21 June, 14 November and 21 November 1831. In 1848, a General Board of Health was created with lay members as its leadership[6] and the first commissioner of woods and forests as its president. In 1854, this board was reconstituted and the president appointed separately. However, the board was abolished in 1858 and its function of overseeing the local boards was transferred to a new Local Government Act Office within the Home Office. From 1871, that function was transferred to the new Local Government Board.
The Ministry of Health was created in by the Ministry of Health Act 1919 as a reconstruction of the Local Government Board. Local government functions were eventually transferred to the minister of housing and local government, leaving the Health Ministry in charge of Health proper.
From 1968, it was amalgamated with the Ministry of Social Security under the secretary of state for social services, until a de-merger of the Department of Health and Social Security on 25 July 1988.
Since devolution in 1999, the position holder's responsibility for the NHS is mainly restricted to the health service in England, with the holder's counterparts in Scotland and Wales responsible for the NHS in Scotland and Wales. Prior to devolution, the secretaries of state for Scotland and Wales had those respective responsibilities, but the Department of Health had a larger role than now in the co-ordination of health policy across Great Britain. Health services in Northern Ireland have always had separate arrangements from the rest of the UK, and are currently the responsibility of the health minister in the Northern Ireland Executive.
A small number of health issues remain reserved matters, that is, they are not devolved.
According to Jeremy Hunt the department receives more letters than any other government department and there are 50 officials in the correspondence unit.[7]
List of ministers
Colour key (for political parties):
Whig
Conservative
Radical
Peelite
Liberal
Labour
Unionist
National Labour
National Liberal
President of the Board of Health (1848–1858) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Portrait | Term of office | Political party | Prime Minister | |||
| As First Commissioner of Woods and Forests | Lord John Russell | ||||||
| The Earl of Carlisle |  |
1848 | 17 April 1849 | Whig | |||
| Lord Seymour MP for Totnes |
 |
17 April 1849 | 1 August 1851 | Whig | |||
| As First Commissioner of Works | |||||||
| Lord Seymour MP for Totnes |
|
1 August 1851 | 21 February 1852 | Whig | |||
| Lord John Manners MP for Colchester |
 |
4 March 1852 | 17 December 1852 | Conservative | The Earl of Derby | ||
| Sir William Molesworth, Bt MP for Southwark |
 |
5 January 1853 | 14 October 1854 | Radical | The Earl of Aberdeen (Coalition) | ||
| President of the Board of Health | |||||||
| Sir Benjamin Hall, Bt MP for Marylebone |
 |
14 October 1854 | 13 August 1855 | Whig | |||
| The Viscount Palmerston | |||||||
| William Cowper MP for Hertford |
 |
13 August 1855 | 9 February 1857 | Whig | |||
| William Monsell MP for County Limerick |
 |
9 February 1857 | 24 September 1857 | Whig | |||
| William Cowper MP for Hertford |
|
24 September 1857 | 21 February 1858 | Whig | |||
| Charles Adderley MP for Staffordshire Northern |
 |
8 March 1858 | 1 September 1858 | Conservative | The Earl of Derby | ||
| Board of Health abolished in 1858; responsibilities transferred to the Privy Council (1858–1871), then the Local Government Board (1871–1919). | |||||||
Minister of Health (1919–1968) | |||||||
| Name | Portrait | Term of office | Political party | Prime Minister | |||
| Dr Christopher Addison MP for Shoreditch |
.jpg.webp) |
24 June 1919 | 1 April 1921 | Liberal | David Lloyd George (Coalition) | ||
| Sir Alfred Mond, Bt MP for Swansea West |
 |
1 April 1921 | 19 October 1922 | Liberal | |||
| Sir Arthur Griffith-Boscawen MP for Taunton |
 |
24 October 1922 | 7 March 1923 (Lost seat 1922) |
Conservative | Bonar Law | ||
| Neville Chamberlain MP for Birmingham Ladywood |
 |
7 March 1923 | 27 August 1923 | Conservative | |||
| Stanley Baldwin | |||||||
| Sir William Joynson-Hicks, Bt MP for Twickenham |
 |
27 August 1923 | 22 January 1924 | Conservative | |||
| John Wheatley MP for Glasgow Shettleston |
 |
22 January 1924 | 3 November 1924 | Labour | Ramsay MacDonald | ||
| Neville Chamberlain MP for Birmingham Ladywood then Birmingham Edgbaston |
|
6 November 1924 | 4 June 1929 | Conservative | Stanley Baldwin | ||
| Arthur Greenwood MP for Nelson and Colne |
 |
7 June 1929 | 24 August 1931 | Labour | Ramsay MacDonald | ||
| Neville Chamberlain MP for Birmingham Edgbaston |
|
25 August 1931 | 5 November 1931 | Conservative | Ramsay MacDonald (1st National Min.; 2nd National Min.) | ||
| Sir Hilton Young MP for Sevenoaks |
 |
5 November 1931 | 7 June 1935 | Conservative | |||
| Sir Kingsley Wood MP for Woolwich West |
 |
7 June 1935 | 16 May 1938 | Conservative | Stanley Baldwin (3rd National Min.) | ||
| Neville Chamberlain (4th National Min.; War Coalition) | |||||||
| Dr Walter Elliot MP for Glasgow Kelvingrove |
 |
16 May 1938 | 13 May 1940 | Unionist | |||
| Malcolm MacDonald MP for Ross and Cromarty |
 |
13 May 1940 | 8 February 1941 | National Labour | Winston Churchill (War Coalition; Caretaker Min.) | ||
| Ernest Brown MP for Leith |
 |
8 February 1941 | 11 November 1943 | National Liberal | |||
| Henry Willink MP for Croydon North |
 |
11 November 1943 | 26 July 1945 | Conservative | |||
| Aneurin Bevan MP for Ebbw Vale |
.jpg.webp) |
3 August 1945 | 17 January 1951 | Labour | Clement Attlee | ||
| Hilary Marquand MP for Middlesbrough East |
 |
17 January 1951 | 26 October 1951 | Labour | |||
| Harry Crookshank MP for Gainsborough |
 |
30 October 1951 | 7 May 1952 | Conservative | Sir Winston Churchill | ||
| Iain Macleod MP for Enfield West |
 |
7 May 1952 | 20 December 1955 | Conservative | |||
| Sir Anthony Eden | |||||||
| Robin Turton MP for Thirsk and Malton |
 |
20 December 1955 | 16 January 1957 | Conservative | |||
| Dennis Vosper MP for Runcorn |
|
16 January 1957 | 17 September 1957 | Conservative | Harold Macmillan | ||
| Derek Walker-Smith MP for East Hertfordshire |
|
17 September 1957 | 27 July 1960 | Conservative | |||
| Enoch Powell MP for Wolverhampton South West |
 |
27 July 1960 | 20 October 1963 | Conservative | |||
| Anthony Barber MP for Doncaster then Altrincham and Sale |
|
20 October 1963 | 16 October 1964 | Conservative | Sir Alec Douglas-Home | ||
| Kenneth Robinson MP for St. Pancras North |
|
18 October 1964 | 1 November 1968 | Labour | Harold Wilson | ||
| Post merged with Ministry for Social Security in 1968. | |||||||
Secretary of State for Health and Social Services (1968–1988) | |||||||
| Name | Portrait | Term of office | Political party | Prime Minister | |||
| Richard Crossman MP for Coventry East |
 |
1 November 1968 | 19 June 1970 | Labour | Harold Wilson | ||
| Sir Keith Joseph MP for Leeds North East |
|
20 June 1970 | 4 March 1974 | Conservative | Edward Heath | ||
| Barbara Castle MP for Blackburn |
 |
5 March 1974 | 8 April 1976 | Labour | Harold Wilson | ||
| David Ennals MP for Norwich North |
 |
8 April 1976 | 4 May 1979 | Labour | James Callaghan | ||
| Patrick Jenkin MP for Wanstead and Woodford |
|
5 May 1979 | 14 September 1981 | Conservative | Margaret Thatcher | ||
| Norman Fowler MP for Sutton Coldfield |
 |
14 September 1981 | 13 June 1987 | Conservative | |||
| John Moore MP for Croydon Central |
 |
13 June 1987 | 25 July 1988 | Conservative | |||
| Post split into Secretary of State for Social Security and Secretary of State for Health in 1988. | |||||||
Secretary of State for Health (1988–2018) | |||||||
| Name | Portrait | Term of office | Political party | Prime Minister | |||
| Kenneth Clarke MP for Rushcliffe |
 |
25 July 1988 | 2 November 1990 | Conservative | Margaret Thatcher | ||
| William Waldegrave MP for Bristol West |
 |
2 November 1990 | 10 April 1992 | Conservative | |||
| John Major | |||||||
| Virginia Bottomley MP for South West Surrey |
 |
10 April 1992 | 5 July 1995 | Conservative | |||
| Stephen Dorrell MP for Loughborough then Charnwood |
 |
5 July 1995 | 2 May 1997 | Conservative | |||
| Frank Dobson MP for Holborn and St. Pancras |
 |
3 May 1997 | 11 October 1999 | Labour | Tony Blair | ||
| Alan Milburn MP for Darlington |
 |
11 October 1999 | 13 June 2003 | Labour | |||
| John Reid MP for Hamilton North and Bellshill then Airdrie and Shotts |
 |
13 June 2003 | 6 May 2005 | Labour | |||
| Patricia Hewitt MP for Leicester West |
 |
6 May 2005 | 28 June 2007 | Labour | |||
| Alan Johnson MP for Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle |
 |
28 June 2007 | 5 June 2009 | Labour | Gordon Brown | ||
| Andy Burnham MP for Leigh |
 |
5 June 2009 | 11 May 2010 | Labour | |||
| Andrew Lansley MP for South Cambridgeshire |
 |
11 May 2010 | 4 September 2012 | Conservative | David Cameron (Coalition) | ||
| Jeremy Hunt MP for South West Surrey |
 |
4 September 2012 | 8 January 2018 | Conservative | |||
| David Cameron (II) | |||||||
| Theresa May (I·II) | |||||||
Secretary of State for Health and Social Care (2018–present) | |||||||
| Name | Portrait | Term of office | Political party | Prime Minister | |||
| Jeremy Hunt MP for South West Surrey |
|
8 January 2018 | 9 July 2018 | Conservative | Theresa May
(II) | ||
| Matt Hancock MP for West Suffolk |
 |
9 July 2018 | 26 June 2021 | Conservative | |||
| Boris Johnson
(I·II) | |||||||
| Sajid Javid MP for Bromsgrove |
 |
26 June 2021 | 5 July 2022 | Conservative | Boris Johnson
(II) | ||
| Steve Barclay MP for North East Cambridgeshire |
 |
5 July 2022 | 6 September 2022 | Conservative | |||
| Thérèse Coffey MP for Suffolk Coastal |
 |
6 September 2022 | 25 October 2022 | Conservative | Liz Truss | ||
| Steve Barclay MP for North East Cambridgeshire |
|
25 October 2022 | Incumbent | Conservative | Rishi Sunak | ||
References
- "Secretary of State for Health and Social Care". gov.uk. Retrieved 29 June 2021.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - "His Majesty's Government: The Cabinet". parliament.uk. Retrieved 30 June 2021.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - "Jeremy Hunt keeps Heath Secretary with added social care brief despite overseeing NHS 'winter crisis'". The Independent. 8 January 2018. Retrieved 5 April 2021.
Jeremy Hunt has kept his job as Health Secretary, despite overseeing what is widely viewed as a winter crisis in the NHS. However, Theresa May has added social care to his responsibilities, to signal her determination to sort out one of the biggest issues facing the country.
- "Health Secretary answers questions on the Government's handling of the pandemic". UK PARLIAMENT. 4 June 2021. Retrieved 12 March 2022.
Matt Hancock MP, Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, answers questions from MPs on the Government's handling of the covid-19 pandemic.
- "Secretary of State for Health and Social Care - GOV.UK". gov.uk.
- "4 Dec 1848, 5 - The Observer at Newspapers.com". Newspapers.com. Retrieved 14 January 2022.
- Hunt, Jeremy (2022). Zero. London: Swift Press. p. 14. ISBN 9781800751224.
External links
| Ministers of Health |
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| Secretaries of State for Health and Social Services |
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| Secretaries of State for Health |
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| Secretaries of State for Health and Social Care |
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UK cabinet portfolios | ||
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Cabinet of the United Kingdom | ||
| Cabinet ministers |
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| Also attending Cabinet |
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