Latest civil service & public affairs moves – December 2

UK government

• Prime Minister's Office – Reverend Canon David Bull appointed as bishop of Buckingham, succeeding bishop Alan Wilson following his death. Reverend Canon Mary Gregory appointed as bishop of Reading, succeeding bishop Olivia Graham following her retirement. Reverend Canon Andrew Norman appointed as bishop in the Diocese in Europe, succeeding The Right Reverend David Hamid following his retirement.
• Cabinet Office: Committee on Standards in Public Life – Ruth Dombey appointed as Liberal Democrat member
• Department of Health and Social Care: NHS Blood and Transplant – Peter Wyman re-appointed as chair for three years from 1 April 2025; Professor Charles Craddock re-appointed as non-executive director for three years from 1 June 2025; Ian Murphy appointed as the Audit and Risk Committee chair from 18 February 2025 until 28 February 2027
• Home Office – Jonathan Hall KC’s tenure as independent reviewer of state threats legislation and independent reviewer of terrorism legislation extended for 18 months until November 2026
• Ministry of Justice: Independent Monitoring Authority – Nicole Lappin announced as the preferred candidate for chair, subject to a pre-appointment hearing by the Justice Select Committee. Office of the Public Guardian – Veronika Neyer appointed as non-executive director. Youth Justice Board – Martin Pratt and Robert Sullivan appointed as members for three years until 31 October 2027.
• Northern Ireland Office: Equality Commission for Northern Ireland – Geraldine McGahey re-appointed as chief commissioner for five years until 28 February 2030
• Department for Transport – Louise Haigh resigned as secretary of state for transport on 29 November.

Houses of Parliament

House of Commons

• Administration Committee – Nick Smith appointed as chair; Bob Blackman and Alberto Costa added
• Finance Committee – Steve Barclay and Andrew Murrison added
• Joint Committee on Human Rights – Desmond Swayne added
• Joint Committee on National Security Strategy – Karen Bradley and Julian Lewis added
• Petitions Committee – John Lamont added
• Women and Equalities Committee – Rosie Duffield and Shivani Raja added
• Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission – Rushanara Ali added.

House of Lords

• Lord Ranger was non-affiliated, now Conservative
• Lord Levene of Portsoken (Crossbench, life peer) retired from the Lords on 28 November.

Devolved Administrations

Welsh Government

• National Infrastructure Commission for Wales – Dr David Clubb’s term as chair, Dr Jenifer Baxter’s term as deputy chair and Helen Armstrong, Stephen Brooks, Aleena Khan, Eluned Parrott, Eurgain Powell and Nick Tune’s terms as commissioners extended to the end of December 2025.

Northern Ireland executive

• Jacqui Durkin re-appointed as chief inspector of criminal justice in Northern Ireland for three years
• Comhairle Na Gaelscolaíochta – Paul Boyle and Rosie Kinnear appointed to the board
• Northern Ireland Council for Integrated Education – Colin Millar and Patrick McIlveen appointed to the board.

Local Authorities

• East Lothian Council – Monica Patterson to retire as chief executive in February 2025.
• Mansfield District Council – Adam Hill to stand down as chief executive. Will be leaving the authority to join Rushcliffe Borough Council as their chief executive
• Middlesbrough Council – Erik Scollay appointed as chief executive
• Nottinghamshire County Council – Sam Smith appointed as council leader.