In this exchange from the “Yes, Minister” TV series Sir Humphrey welcomes
the newly-appointed James Hacker to his department.
‘James Hacker: Who else is in this department? Sir Humphrey Appleby: Well briefly, Sir, I am the Permanent Under Secretary of State, known as the Permanent Secretary. Woolley here is your Principal Private Secretary, I too have a Principal Private Secretary and he is the Principal Private Secretary to the Permanent Secretary. Directly responsible to me are ten Deputy Secretaries, 87 Under Secretaries and 219 Assistant Secretaries. Directly responsible to the Principal Private Secretary are plain Private Secretaries, and the Prime Minister will be appointing two Parliamentary Under Secretaries and you will be appointing your own Parliamentary Private Secretary. James Hacker: Do they all type? Sir Humphrey Appleby: None of us can type. Mrs. McKay types. She is the secretary.’
Of all the secretaries Sir Humphrey mentions, the one few people remember is the last one, the Parliamentary Private Secretary – or PPS.
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