The Structure of The Federated Stars Federal Government

Types of Government Department

• Ministerial Departments are led politically by a Government Minister, and cover matters that require direct political oversight. For most Departments, the Government Minister in question is known as a Secretary of State and is a member of the Cabinet. He or she is generally supported by a team of junior Ministers. The administrative management of the Department is led by a senior civil servant known as a Permanent Secretary.
  • Subordinate to these Ministerial Departments are executive agencies. An Executive Agency has a degree of autonomy to perform an operational function (cf. QUANGOs). They report to one or more specific Government Departments, which will set the funding and strategic policy for the Agency.
• Non-ministerial departments generally cover matters for which direct political oversight is judged unnecessary or inappropriate. They are headed by senior civil servants. Some fulfil a regulatory or inspection function, and their status is therefore intended to protect them from political interference. Some are headed by Permanent Secretaries or Second Permanent Secretaries.

Composition

Each minister is responsible not only for advising the Monarch, Prime Minister and other ministers on any and all political matters, but also for the general administration of at least one government portfolio.

A Minister of the Crown is usually the formal head of a corresponding federal department or agency, although there are exceptions: positions such as the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons and the President of the Privy Council have no corresponding department, while some Ministers of the Crown head agencies under the umbrella of a department run by another Minister. The Prime Minister is entitled to appoint ministers without portfolio, but this has very really been done.

Ministers of State, often dubbed "junior ministers," are assigned specific responsibilities on a more ad hoc basis, which they fulfill from within a department under a full Minister. The portfolios of Ministers of State are considerably more transient, as positions may be created and dissolved to suit specific short-term government priorities or the specific qualifications of candidates without alterations to the departmental structure. In recent years, Prime Ministers have occasionally named individuals as Minister of State but not specified any particular responsibilities, effectively making them Ministers without portfolio.

Secretaries of State, also often dubbed "junior ministers," are similar to Ministers of State in that they too are assigned specific responsibilities on a more ad hoc basis, which they fulfill from within a department under a full Minister. Unlike Ministers of State, Secretaries of State are members of the Ministry but not of the Cabinet, and technically they can attend cabinet meetings by invitation only.

The Federated Stars Government Ministries and Departments

Imperial Privy Council Office - Arch-Emperor, Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister

Office of the Prime Minister

Ministry of Communities and Local Government -- Minister of Communities and Local Government

Ministry of Defence -- Minister of Defence

• Armed Forces of The Federated Stars
• Communications Security Establishment

Ministry of Environment - Minister of the Environment

• Environmental Protection Agency
• United Empire Meteorological Service
• Parks Service Agency
• Wildlife Service Agency

Ministry of Food - Minister of Food

• Drinking Water Inspectorate
• Dairy Commission
• Farm Credit
• Food Inspection Agency
• Grain Commission
• National Farm Products Council

Foreign Office - Minister of Foreign Affairs

• Office of the Minister of State for Associated & Protected States -- Minister of State for Associated & Protected States

Ministry of Health -- Minister of Health

Ministry of Heritage -- Minister of Heritage

• Stars Sport
• National Film Board
• Telecommunications Commission

HIM Treasury - Chancellor of the Exchequer & Lord High Treasurer

Ministry of Human Resources -- Minister of Human Resources

• Human Resource Centres for Students
• Student Loans Program
• Employment Insurance Program

Ministry of Industry -- Minister of Industry

• Infrastructure and Communities

Ministry of International Trade -- Minister of International Trade

Ministry of Justice -- Minister of Justice

Ministry of Natural Resources -- Minister of Natural Resources

• Forest Service
• Earth Sciences Sector
• Geological Survey
• Centre for Remote Sensing

Home Office -- Minister of Home Affairs

• Minister for State of Citizenship and Immigration -- Minister of State for Citizenship and Immigration
  • Citizenship Visa Office
  • Citizenship Courts
  • Immigration and Refugee Board
• Royal Stars Mounted Police
• Stars Customs Agency
• Firearms Centre
• Nuclear Safety Commission
• Correctional Service
• Royal Stars Coast Guard

Ministry of Oceans -- Minister of Oceans

• Hydrographic Service

Ministry of Public Works and Government Services -- Minister of Public Works and Government Services

• Office of the Minister of State for Caregivers and Families -- Minister of State for Caregivers and Families
• Social Development

Ministry of Space -- Minister of Space

• Royal Scout Service (RSS)
• Stars Stellar Astrometry & Cartography Office
• Stars Planetary Survey Office
• Stars Xenobiology Research & Study Office
• Stars Space Colonisation Agency
• Stars Extrasolar Resources

Ministry of Transport -- Minister of Transport

• Transportation Safety Board

Ministry of Veterans Affairs -- Minister of Veterans Affairs

Standalone Agencies & Offices and Subsidiary Units

• Parliament
• Elections Office
• Office of the Auditor General
• Office of the Ethics Commissioner
• Office of the Privacy Commissioner -- The Privacy Commissioner is a special ombudsman and an officer of parliament who reports directly to the House of Commons and the House of Lords and has the authority to investigate complaints filed by citizens, and report on whether there has been a violation of the Privacy Act. The Privacy Commissioner also has the power to audit, publishing information about personal information-handling practices in the public and private sector, conducting research into privacy issues and promoting awareness and understanding of privacy issues by the public.
• MI5 Stars Security Service
• MI6 Secret Intelligence Service
• National Research Council
• Supreme Court of The Federated Stars
• Bank of The Federated Stars
• Business Development Bank
• Economic Development Agency for New Colonial Regions
• Stars Revenue Agency -- Minister of National Revenue
• Trade Oversight Department
  • Review Office
  • Research Office

Like most modern nations, The Federated Stars thrives on its trade. The Trade Oversight Department has long attracted many of the best and brightest in what has been at times surrogate warfare with some other nations. And it is a public fact that the Trade Oversight Department has tremendous responsibility, and takes that responsibility seriously. TOD’s auditors, accountants, and review officers are the last line of defence on some trade matters. Over the years, it was TOD reviews that plugged the loopholes in the Treaty of St. Nazaire before it was signed, that tracked down the ‘misplaced’ 502 billion ¥ in the Smith Scandal before it was transferred off-planet, and discovered the black market operation using a AmeriCo’s division as a front. So accomplished has TOD become at ferreting the truth out from the financial books that TOD agents have been seconded to the Office of the Auditor General. It is therefore possible for the TOD to have people at work reviewing almost any aspect of government operations at any Stars office, consulate, embassy, or trade post. Many times TOD agents have done a ‘cursory review’ of an office in a government agency in order to get close to their real target. Some MI5 & MI6 agents have their cover assignments in the Trade Oversight Department, the accountants, auditors, and analysts charged with ensuring compliance with trade regulations. The TOD is feared for its own reasons, for who likes being audited? But their efficiency, ability, and scope is such that they make the perfect cover for the covert agents.

• Chatter Protocol Agency -- The CPA controls, operates and polices the ChatterNet, a communication network that connects Chatter PADDs all over world and space to the Internet and the Net together for communication, file sharing, and other tasks performed by the population.