Knighthoods for Richard Heaton, permanent secretary at the Ministry of Justice, and Jon Thompson, perm sec and chief executive of HM Revenue and Customs, were among the honours given to civil servants in the New Year Honours list last week.
Both departmental leaders were made Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath, while other senior figures knighted include the government’s chief scientific adviser, Patrick Vallance, for his services to open clinical science.
Roy Stone, the principal private secretary to the government chief whip's office, based in the Cabinet Office, has also been knighted, as has James Leigh-Pemberton, who as executive chairman of UK Financial Investments oversees the Treasury’s shareholding in banks and financial institutions bailed out in the financial crisis, and Laurie Bristow, UK ambassador to Russia.
Thompson’s knighthood comes after a year in which he revealed that he had faced death threats after setting out the potential cost to businesses of post-Brexit customs options.
In total 1,148 people have received an award, 70% of whom have undertaken outstanding work in their communities, according to the Cabinet Office. Just under half – 544 – of recipients are women, while 12% come from a Black, Asian or minority ethnic background. The Cabinet Office also said 4% of awardees consider themselves to have a disability and 5% of recipients identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender.
Five senior civil servants have been named Companions of the Order of the Bath (CB), an honour that recognises public servants.
They are: Julie Gillis, programme director at the Department for Work and Pensions; Patricia Hayes, the director general for roads, devolution and motoring at the Department for Transport; Neil Thompson, the head of commercial and procurement for ships at the Ministry of Defence; Peter Watkins, the MoD’s strategy and international DG; and Richard West, DWP'sdisability services and dispute resolution director.
HMRC’s former general counsel and solicitor, Gill Aitken, who became registar at the University of Oxford last year, also received the public service gong, as well as James Richardson, chief economist at the National Infrastructure Commission.
A host of civil servants have been named Commanders of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in recognition of their public service.
These include the prime minister Theresa May’s deputy principal private secretary, William Macfarlane, as well as Andrew Goodall, DG of the Welsh Government's health and social services group and chief executive of NHS Wales.
Other civil servants made CBEs include:
- Kenneth Allison. director, Environment Agency
- Alison Baptiste. flood and coastal risk management director, Environment Agency
- Dr Clair Elizabeth Baynton. deputy director for emergency preparedness, resilience and response, Department for Health and Social Care
- Barry Burton, director, corporate operations, Defence Equipment and Support, Ministry of Defence
- Thomas Dowdall, deputy director, National Crime Agency
- Cecilia Mathieson, Ministry of Defence
- Steven McCarthy, Minister of Defence Materiel British Defence Staff Washington
- Edward McGuckin, senior officer, public legal service division, Northern Ireland Executive
- Simon McKinnon, digital director for children health and pensions services, Department for Work and Pensions
- Rodney Norman, formerly finance director, National Savings and Investments, and lately Treasury accountant, HM Treasury
- Susan Hemming OBE, head of special crime and counter-terrorism division, Crown Prosecution Service
- Lynda Marginson,director, National Probation Service, North East Division.
Also recognised is Tera Allas, the former deputy head of the Government Economic Service and now a senior fellow at the McKinsey Centre for Government, and Bridget Rosewell OBE, an economist and commissioner of the National Infrastructure Commission.
Many more civil servants were made Officers of the Order of the British Empire (OBE), among them Pauline Chelmsford, the deputy director of large business at HMRC, who received the award for her work to improve the UK’s customs capability.
Also recognised was Ann Connor, a former education adviser at the Department for Education.
DfE perm sec Jonathan Slater congratulated everyone who received an award, “particularly those who have been recognised for their achievements in education, children’s service, or increasing social mobility”.
He added: “This is a tribute to the outstanding contributions that have been made towards providing excellent care and education to children and young people, especially to the most vulnerable in society.”
Other civil servants to receive OBEs include:
- Malcolm Beatty, formerly chief executive, forest service, Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs, Northern Ireland Executive
- Elizabeth Cadman, deputy head, Department for International Development, Jordan
- Andrew Cotter, Ministry of Defence
- David Fairclough, assistant director, immigration enforcement, Home Office
- Stephen Fidler, deputy director, road investment strategy client, Department for Transport
- Anne-Marie Fry, head of chemical biological, radiological and explosive (Protect), Home Office
- Clare Gibbs, strategic partnering manager, Cabinet Office
- Carol Ann Graham, head of state pathology branch, Northern Ireland Executive
- Norman Griffin, senior manager, long term and high security estate directorate, Ministry of Justice
- John Healy, private secretary, Office of the Parliamentary Counsel
- Gerald Heddell, director for the Inspections Enforcement and Standards Division, Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency
- Basil Hood, head of resilience, Office of the secretary of state for Scotland
- Anne Moises, chief information officer, Directorate for Digital, Scottish Government
- Ming Wai Kong, senior lawyer, Government Legal Department
- Catherine Anne De Marco, deputy director for infrastructure skills and efficiency, Department for Transport
- Gillian McManus, emergencies management resilience adviser, Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
- Patrick Mears, external consultant, HM Revenue and Customs
- Sandra Popoola, head of capability building and resourcing, Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
- Dr Andrew Rees, head of waste strategy, Welsh Government
- Hazel Renwick, district manager, work services directorate, Department for Work and Pensions
- Tanya Robinson, head of equalities and Lammy delivery, HM Prison and Probation Service
- Kevin Rousell, head of claims management regulation, Ministry of Justice
- Mark Tyrrell-Smith, acting head of department, National Data Unit, National Crime Agency
- Pamela Sutton, operational leader, Department for Work and Pensions
- Dr Richard Thompson, head of counter-terrorism strategy, Home Office
- Jeffrey Tudor, policy coordinator, Department for International Development Burma
- Carol Anne Tullo, formerly Queen's Printer of Acts of Parliament and Controller, Her Majesty's Stationery Office
- Angela Walsh, head of NHS pay, Department of Health and Social Care
- Angela Windle, team leader, child protection, safeguarding and family law team, Department for Education
Civil servants awarded the Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE):
- Jamshaid Ahmad. immigration officer London and South, Home Office
- Helen Andrews, operations manager, Bristol, civil and family justice centre, HM Courts and Tribunal Service
- Gillian Atkins, Ministry of Defence
- Fiona Bailey, executive officer, troubled families employment adviser, Work Services Directorate, Department for Work and Pensions
- Chris Berry, senior education adviser, Department for International Development, Sierra Leone
- Paul Boone, manager, National Crime Agency
- Patricia Craig, personal secretary to director for local government and communities, Scottish Government
- Bryan Flawell, prison officer, HM Prison, Isle of Wight
- Charles Monks, HM immigration inspector, Home Office
- Bhagvati Parmar, migration planning coordinator, HM Revenue and Customs
- Jonathan Parsons, investigator, Fraud Investigation Service, HM Revenue and Customs
- Mohammed Rafique, diversity and inclusion manager, immigration enforcement, Home Office
- Lyril Rawlins, disability employment adviser, and coach Selly Oak Jobcentre Plus
- Gary Rogers, formerly policy adviser, Cabinet Office
- Victoria Stanger, deputy head, Department for International Development South Sudan
- Adam Thomas, senior press officer and spokesman, defence and security organisation events team, Department for International Trade
- Moira Tracey, Exchequer forecast manager, HM Treasury
- James Traynor, senior officer, child exploitation and online protection, National Crime Agency
- Esther Vitte. work coach, work services directorate, Department for Work and Pensions
Have we missed any civil servants recognised in the New Year's Honours? Please let us know in the form below.