Sir Matthew Rycroft has announced he will step down as permanent secretary at the Home Office.
The perm sec used an internal memo announcing his departure “for pastures new” to praise civil servants in the department – in particular, the “unsung heroes” whose work can go unnoticed.
“As a permanent secretary, I have served 10 different secretaries of state and worked with four different cabinet secretaries. I will leave by the end of March and the cabinet secretary will set out arrangements for the appointment of my successor before then,” he said in the memo, which was later released as a statement.
Rycroft was appointed Home Office perm sec in March 2020, after a two-year stint leading the now-defunct Department for International Development.
He had previously worked as chief operating officer at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, overseeing the running of the then-FCO and its network of 270 international posts, and spent three years as British ambassador to the United Nations before his move to DfID.
His previous roles include a stint as UK ambassador to Bosnia and Herzegovina, and private secretary to the prime minister on foreign affairs.
“It has been such a privilege to lead the brilliant department of state that is the Home Office. Thank you all for the tremendous work you do, day in day out, especially to the unsung heroes who keep the show on the road often without getting the credit you deserve,” Rycroft told staff.
“I look forward to seeing your achievements continue from afar, and wish you well.”
Rycroft was knighted in the 2023 New Year Honours for services to British diplomacy, development and domestic policy. In a statement at the time, he similarly praised colleagues in the Home Office, Foreign Office and wider public service for their "outstanding work".
He said the knighthood was "not just for me" but for "the countless public servants who are doing a brilliant job, often unsung, behind the scenes, with little credit".
Rycroft has yet to make his future career plans public.
Asked by CSW in a 2023 interview where he saw himself in five years’ time, he said the question was a good one: “I ask it in interviews myself quite a lot because it gives a sense of where people are on their career journey and of their ambitions… Although I have to say at this at this stage of my career, it is harder to answer – publicly, anyway.”
He later added that he hoped to still be in the civil service, “but if not, then my pipe dream is to run a breakfast café on a beach somewhere!”
In a statement published alongside Rycroft’s comments, home secretary Yvette Cooper said: “I want to thank Sir Matthew for his 35 years of dedicated service to public life.
“The Home Office ministerial team are grateful for the fulsome support and leadership he has provided since we entered government and during the transition period.
“The whole department wishes him well as he embarks on his next steps.”