Latest civil service & public affairs moves – October 28

UK Government

• Cabinet Office: Council of the Duchy of Lancaster – Alastair Martin appointed as chief executive and clerk from 4 November. Infected Blood Compensation Authority – Sir Rob Behrens, Gillian Fairfield, Russell Frith, Deborah Harris-Ugbomah, Helen Parker and Paula Sussex appointed as non-executive directors.
• Ministry of Defence: Independent Medical Expert Group – Dr Louisa Murdin re-appointed as member for three years until 30 September 2027. North East Veterans Advisory and Pensions Committee – Gordon Crosthwaite, Stuart Crozier, Christopher Tearney, Richard Tucker, Neil Tully, Shirley Wilson and Guy Wynne-Jones appointed as members for three years until 3 March 2027.
• Department for Energy Security and Net Zero: Climate Change Committee – Emma Pinchbeck appointed as chief executive from 11 November.
• Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office: Ruth Davis appointed as the first special representative for nature.
• FCDO: Irfan Siddiq appointed as His Majesty’s mbassador to the Republic of Iraq from March 2025, succeeding Stephen Hitchen who will be transferring to another Diplomatic Service appointment.
• Department of Health and Social Care: Care Quality Commission – Sir Julian Hartley appointed as chief executive. NHS Business Services Authority – Sue Douthwaite re-appointed as chair for three years from 1 April 2025.
• Home Office: Office of the Immigration Services Commissioner – John Tuckett re-appointed as immigration services commissioner for five years. Police Remuneration Review Body and the National Crime Agency Remuneration Review Body – Zoë Billingham re-appointed as chair for three years from 13 January 2025.
• Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government – Rushanara Ali’s ministerial role title changed to parliamentary under-secretary of state for homelessness and democracy, previously it was parliamentary under-secretary of state for building safety and homelessness. Alex Norris’s ministerial role title changed to parliamentary under-secretary of state for local growth and building safety; previously it was parliamentary under-secretary of state for democracy and local growth. Mo Baines appointed as lead non-executive director of the MHCLG board from 21 October.
• Ministry of Justice – Sir Robin Spencer appointed as independent assessor of compensation for miscarriages of justice for five years, succeeding Dame Linda Dobbs. Judicial Pension Board – Kim Brown and Josephine Maguire re-appointed as independent members for three years from 1 May 2025 until 30 April 2028; Russell Agius re-appointed as independent member for three years from 5 September 2025 until 4 September 2028. Parole Board – Heidi Leavesley, Rob McKeon, Celeste Myrie and Emma Pusill appointed as independent members for five years.
• Department for Transport: Vehicle Certification Agency – Richard Judge appointed as chair.
• HM Treasury: Government Actuary’s Department – Les Philpott re-appointed as non-executive director and management board chair for three years until September 2027. National Infrastructure Commission – Sir John Armitt’s term as chair extended for six months until 18 July 2025.
• Government Property Agency – Anna Strongman appointed as non-executive director.
• HM Revenue and Customs – Mike Bracken and Bill Dodwell appointed to the board.

Houses of Parliament

House of Commons

• Backbench Business Committee – Wendy Morton added.
• Business and Trade Committee – Antonia Bance, John Cooper, Sarah Edwards, Sonia Kumar, Alison Griffiths, Gregor Poynton, Matt Western and Rosie Wrighting added.
• Culture, Media and Sport Committee – Bayo Alaba, Mims Davies, James Frith, Rupa Huq, Natasha Irons, Jo Platt, Tom Rutland and Paul Waugh added.
• Defence Committee – Calvin Bailey, Alex Baker, Lincoln Jopp, Emma Lewell-Buck, Jesse Norman, Michelle Scrogham, Fred Thomas and Derek Twigg added.
• Education Committee – Jess Asato, Sureena Brackenridge, Caroline Johnson, Amanda Martin, Darren Paffey, Mark Sewards, Patrick Spencer and Marie Tidball added.
• Energy Security and Net Zero Committee – Polly Billington, Christopher Chope, Torcuil Crichton, Josh MacAlister, Annaliese Midgley, Julie Minns, Luke Murphy and Bradley Thomas added.
• Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee – Sarah Bool and Charlie Dewhirst added.
• Foreign Affairs Committee – Aphra Brandreth, Dan Carden, Claire Hazelgrove, Uma Kumaran, Blair McDougall, Abtisam Mohamed, Matthew Patrick and John Whittingdale added.
• Health and Social Care Committee – Danny Beales, Ben Coleman, Beccy Cooper, Deirdre Costigan, Jen Craft, Josh Fenton-Glynn, Paulette Hamilton, Joe Robertson and Gregory Stafford added.
• Home Affairs Committee – Shaun Davies, Robbie Moore, Margaret Mullane, Chris Murray, Connor Rand, Joani Reid, Bell Ribeiro-Addy and Jake Richards added.
• Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee – Mike Amesbury, Lewis Cocking, Chris Curtis, Maya Ellis, Naushabah Khan, Gagan Mohindra, Joe Powell and Sarah Smith added.
• International Development Committee – Noah Law, Gordon McKee, Sam Rushworth, David Taylor, Laura Kyrke-Smith, Alice Macdonald, David Mundell and David Reed added.
• Justice Committee – Alex Barros-Curtis, Pam Cox, Linsey Farnsworth, Ashley Fox, Warinder Juss, Sarah Russell, Neil Shastri-Hurst and Mike Tapp added.
• Northern Ireland Affairs Committee – Alicia Kearns and Jerome Mayhew added.
• Public Accounts Committee – Peter Fortune and Rebecca Paul added.
• Science, Innovation and Technology Committee – Emily Darlington, George Freeman, Allison Gardner, Kit Malthouse, Steve Race, Josh Simons, Lauren Sullivan and Adam Thompson added.
• Scottish Affairs Committee – Harriet Cross and Jack Rankin added.
• Transport Committee – Katie Lam and Rebecca Smith added.
• Treasury Committee – Harriett Baldwin, Rachel Blake, John Glen, Siobhain McDonagh, Lola McEvoy, Lucy Rigby, Jeevun Sandher and Yuan Yang added.
• Work and Pensions Committee – Johanna Baxter, Neil Coyle, Damien Egan, Gill German, Amanda Hack and David Pinto-Duschinsky added.
• Independent Expert Panel – Sir Adrian Fulford appointed as chair from 25 November; Lyndsey de Mestre, Andrew Hoyle and Wendy Williams appointed as members from 25 November.

House of Lords

• The Bishop of Peterborough entered the Lords on 18 October.
• Lord Hanningfield (non-affiliated) died on 20 October.
• Liaison Committee – Lord Purvis of Tweed added; Baroness Walmsley discharged.

Parties

Scottish National Party

• Carol Beattie appointed as acting chief executive.

Devolved Administrations

Welsh Government

• Sir Jon Cunliffe appointed as chair of an Independent Water Commission

Northern Ireland Assembly

• Assembly and Executive Review Committee – John Stewart added.
• Public Accounts Committee – Colin Crawford added; John Stewart discharged.

Local Authorities

• Basildon Borough Council – Gary Jones appointed as chief executive.
• Tameside Council – Ged Cooney to stand down as council leader immediately.

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