Latest civil service & public affairs moves – 22 Sept-23 Oct
New appointments in the civil service, UK politics, and public affairs, via Dods People
UK Government
- Department for Business and Trade – Martin Kent appointed as His Majesty’s Trade Commissioner for Asia Pacific. British Business Bank – Stephen Walton appointed as non-executive chair, succeeding Lord Smith of Kelvin.
- Cabinet Office: Equality and Human Rights Commission – Dr Lesley Sawyers appointed as interim deputy chair, succeeding Alasdair Henderson and Eryl Besse.
- Department for Culture, Media and Sport: British Tourism Authority – Beth Knight and William Burton appointed as board members for five years. National Citizen Service Trust – Jacquie Nnochiri and Deborah Tavana re-appointed as board members for three years from 1 January 2024 until 31 December 2027. National Physical Activity Taskforce – Jill Scott, Daley Thompson and Sir Michael Barber appointed as independent members. Reviewing Committee on the Export of Works of Art and Objects of Cultural Interest – Dr Helen Jacobsen and Dr Caroline Shenton appointed for four years; Christopher Baker and Stuart Lochhead re-appointed for four years from 1 October. Science Museum Group – Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill re-appointed as trustee until 30 June 2027; Judith Donovan and Prof Ajit Lalvani re-appointed as trustees until 31 August 2027. Theatres Trust – Annie Hampson, Jane Spiers and Katie Town re-appointed as trustees for three years until 13 September 2026.
- Ministry of Defence – Vice Admiral Andy Kyte appointed as chief of defence logistics and support. National Cyber Force – Air Vice-Marshal Tim Neal-Hopes appointed as commander, replacing James Babbage.
- Department for Energy Security and Net Zero: Nuclear Decommissioning Authority – Rob Fletcher appointed as permanent chief executive of Magnox Ltd after serving as interim chief executive since May. UK Industrial Fusion Solutions – Paul Methven appointed as inaugural chief executive.
- Government Equalities Office: Equality and Human Rights Commission – Dr Lesley Sawers appointed as interim deputy chair.
- Department of Health and Social Care – Samantha Jones appointed as interim lead non-executive director of DHSC from 29 September until 31 December, following Baroness Lampard standing down. NHS England – Jeremy Townsend re-appointed as non-executive director and chair of the Audit and Risk Assurance Committee for three years from 1 October; Michael Coupe re-appointed as non-executive director for three years from 1 January 2024; Sir David Behan’s term as non-executive director extended from 1 January 2024 until 31 August 2024. NHS Pay Review Body – Philippa Hird’s term as chair extended until 30 November; Patricia Gordon’s term as member extended until 30 November. Independent Reconfiguration Panel – Elaine Strachan-Hall and Michael Scott’s terms as members extended from 1 October until 31 December.
- Home Office – Eleanor Lyons appointed as Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner from 11 December.
- Ministry of Justice – Charlie Taylor re-appointed as the chief inspector of prisons for three years from 1 November until 31 October 2026. Sue McAllister appointed as the interim chief inspector of probation from 1 October until 1 March 2024. Baroness Newlove re-appointed as interim victims commissioner from 17 October until 16 October 2024. Criminal Procedure Rule Committee – Robert Thomas and Rebecca White appointed as members for four years from 1 October. Independent Monitoring Authority for the Citizens’ Rights Agreements – Ronnie Alexander re-appointed as non-executive member from 17 March 2024 until 16 December 2027; Joyce Cullen re-appointed as non-executive member from 10 February 2024 until 9 December 2027; Marcus Killick and Leo O’Reilly re-appointed as non-executive members from 8 December until 7 December 2026. HM Prison and Probation Service – Rommel Moseley and Nick Campsie appointed as non-executive directors.
- Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities: Homes England – Peter Freeman re-appointed as chair for two years from 23 October until 22 October 2025; Jackie Jacob to retire as director of affordable housing grants in December. Birmingham City Council – Max Caller appointed as lead commissioner; John Coughlan appointed as commissioner, with a focus on cultural change and transformation; Chris Tambini appointed as commissioner, with a focus on finance; Pam Parkes appointed as commissioner, with a focus on human resources and organisational design; Jackie Belton appointed as commissioner, with a focus on the council’s housing function; Myron Hrycyk appointed as commissioner, with a focus on IT and commercial; John Biggs and Lord Hutton of Furness appointed as political advisers. Thurrock Council – Gavin Jones appointed as lead commissioner; Nicole Wood appointed as finance commissioner.
- Northern Ireland Office: Labour Relations Agency – Elizabeth Armstrong, Mark Spence, Orla Sheils and Sarah Havlin appointed as board members for three years.
- HM Treasury: Debt Management Office – Sir Robert Stheeman to retire as chief executive at the end of June 2024. National Infrastructure Commission – Michèle Dix appointed as commissioner. UK Government Investments – Andy Halford, Dr Vanessa Lawrence and Iain Mackay appointed as non-executive directors for three years until September 2026.
- Office of the Secretary of State for Wales: Tata Steel/Port Talbot Transition Board – David Davies MP appointed as chair; Vaughan Gething MS and Michael Gove MP appointed as deputy chairs; Henrik Adam, Rajesh Nair, Steve Hunt and Stephen Kinnock appointed as board members.
Non-Ministerial Departments
Houses of Parliament
House of Commons
- Rutherglen and Hamilton West by-election result: Michael Shanks won the seat for Labour with a majority of 9,446 and a swing of 20.3% from the SNP on 5 October. The turnout was 37.2%.
- Mid Bedfordshire by-election result: Alistair Strathern won the seat for Labour with a majority of 1,192 and a swing of 20.5% from the Conservatives on 19 October. The turnout was 44.1%.
- Tamworth by-election result: Sarah Edwards won the seat for Labour with a majority of 1,316 and a swing of 23.8% from the Conservatives on 19 October. The turnout was 36%.
- Lisa Cameron, MP for East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow, defected from the SNP to Conservatives on 12 October.
- Peter Bone had the Conservative whip suspended on 17 October.
- Select Committee chair election results: Business and Trade Committee – Liam Byrne elected as chair with 216 votes on 18 October. Petitions Committee – Cat Smith elected as chair with 227 votes on 18 October. Committee on Standards – Harriet Harman elected as chair with 341 votes on 18 October.
House of Lords
- Dame Sue Carr (Lady Chief Justice) is to be appointed as a life peer.
- The Earl of Shrewsbury and Waterford’s suspension from the House of Lords ended on 12 October.
- Lord Burnett of Maldon is no longer disqualified from participation in the House of Lords having retired as Lord Chief Justice. He was a non-affiliated peer, but is now a crossbencher.
- Lord Paddick was a Liberal Democrat peer, now non-affiliated after taking up the role of non-executive director of the Metropolitan Police.
- The Bishop of Norwich joined the House of Lords on 17 October and will be introduced on 26 October.
Industry
Interest Groups
- Breaking Barriers – Ciara Devlin appointed as chief executive from November.
- English Heritage – Dr Nick Merriman appointed as chief executive from early 2024.
- REACT – General Sir Nick Parker to stand down as chair in June 2024.
- Whitehall & Industry Group – Rachel Sandby-Thomas will become chair next month, succeeding Phil Thomson. Former senior civil servant Sandby-Thomas is currently WIG deputy chair.
- World Vision UK – Fola Komolafe appointed as chief executive.
Trade Associations
- Association of Directors of Public Health – Greg Fell elected as president.
- Local Government Association – Mark Lloyd to stand down as chief executive; deputy chief executive Sarah Pickup appointed as acting chief executive from 7 October; Sally Burlington appointed as deputy chief executive.
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