A personal secretary (PS) is a civil servant in a governmental department or ministry, responsible to a secretary of state or minister.
A personal secretary is normally of middle management level; however, as the key official responsible for disseminating the decision of ministers.
The following are the duties of Personal secretary of Minister.
Link between Minister and Officials in the department : The private secretary is the principal link between a government minister and officials in the Department or Ministry. He or she has overall responsibility for coordinating the development of the minister's policy remit, ensuring that the aims of ministers are clearly and fully implemented by the department. In that respect a PS and APS will often be in a position of debate with colleagues of much higher seniority.
Present at every task: A personal secretary is always in attendance with the minister at every meeting or event to provide support and to ensure that a member of the civil service, who are non-political appointees, takes a factual note of discussions and commitments.
Ownership of the Ministerial diary: They also have ownership of the ministerial diary, managing the ministerial diary secretary whose task is to sift and prioritise invitation, commitments, policy briefings and parliamentary business. A Personal Secretary is always the initial source of advice to Ministers on parliamentary protocol, the process of cabinet business and departmental policy.
Difficult when compared to equivalent grade: Working in ministerial office as a personal secretary is often seen as essential for advancement to the Senior Civil Service. Although considered to be a highly rewarding and sought-after post, it is one of the most difficult when compared to others at the equivalent grade.
Seniority importance: Depending upon the seniority of their political principal, private secretaries may be regarded an important officials in their own right; the Queen's private secretary and the prime minister's private secretary being the most important.
