Chief Secretary

The Chief Secretary is the title of a senior civil servant in certain members of the Commonwealth of Nations, and, historically, in the British Empire. Prior to the dissolution of the colonies, the Chief Secretary was the second most important official in a colony of the British Empire after the Governor, typically termed the Colonial Secretary and often an office held by the Premier or a similar politically elected minister, and with a portfolio which were equivalent to what was later termed the Home Secretary's office.

History

Origins

Originally the secretary to the Governor as well as secretary of the Colony this office was at first known as the Colonial Secretary or Principal Secretary outside British North America where the equivalent title was Provincial Secretary. In 1821, Governor of New South Wales Philip Gidley King wrote that the Colonial Secretary:

"Has the custody of all official papers and records belonging to the colony; transcribes the public despatches; charged with making out all grants, leases and other public Colonial instruments; also the care of numerous indents or lists sent with convicts of their terms of conviction, and every other official transaction relating to the Colony and Government; and is a situation of much responsibility and confidence."

Chief Secretary for Administration

The Chief Secretary for Administration (Chinese: 政務司司長), commonly known as the Chief Secretary of Hong Kong, is the most senior principal official of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. The Chief Secretary is the head of the Government Secretariat which oversees the administration of the Region to which all other ministers belong, and is accountable for his or her policies and actions to the Chief Executive and to the Legislative Council.

The Chief Secretary formulates and implements government policy, gives advice to the Chief Executive as a member of the Executive Council, and is responsible for managing the Government's relationship with the Legislative Council and drawing up the Government's legislative programme. The office also exercises certain statutory functions, such as the handling of appeals from designated public bodies.

Prior to the transfer of sovereignty of Hong Kong in 1997, the office was known simply as "Chief Secretary" (布政司), and before 1976, "Colonial Secretary" (輔政司). Until the introduction of the Principal Officials Accountability System in 2002, the Chief Secretary was a civil service position, and in this capacity, the head of the public service. In 2005, Henry Tang became the first person who has not been a civil servant to be appointed to the office of the Chief Secretary.