Latest civil service & public affairs moves – April 8

UK Government

• Cabinet Office: Senior Salaries Review Body – Pippa Lambert appointed as interim chair for six months; Sharon Witherspoon appointed as interim judicial member for six months; Zoë Billingham appointed as ex-officio policing member for twelve months; Mark Polin and David Stanton appointed as board members for three years; Ian McCafferty re-appointed as member.
• Department for Culture, Media and Sport – Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay’s ministerial role title changed to parliamentary under-secretary of state for arts, heritage and libraries from parliamentary under-secretary of state for arts and heritage. Management Board – Graeme Jack appointed as member for three years from 1 April; Glen Nimmo appointed as member for three years from 10 April. Wallace Collection – Marcus Agius, Alexandra Shulman and Davinder Toor appointed as trustees for four years; Spencer de Grey, Josephine Fitzalan-Howard, Larry Keith and Jakyung Moon Lambert appointed as trustees for five years.
• Department for Education – Luke Hall MP’s ministerial responsibilities announced as minister of state for skills, apprenticeships and higher education.
• Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs – Will Harris and Sir Roy Stone appointed as advisers to the secretary of state for environment, food and rural affairs from 28 March. Agriculture and Horticulture Development – Graeme Jack appointed as board member for three years from 1 April and pork sector council chair; Glen Nimmo appointed as board member for three years from 10 April. Joint Nature Conservation Committee – Cath Denholm appointed as interim chair until 30 June. Office of Environmental Protection – Julie Hill re-appointed as non-executive director for four years from 1 July until 30 June 2028.
• Department of Health and Social Care – UK Health Security Agency – Professor Graham Hart re-appointed as non-executive member for three years from 25 April.
• Privy Council Office – Stephen Flyn, Vaughan Gething, Gavin Robinson and Owen Thompson appointed as privy counsellors.

Houses of Parliament

House of Commons

• Jeffrey Donaldson, MP for Lagan Valley, had DUP membership suspended on 29 March. He now sits as an independent.
• Political Honours

Harriett Baldwin– DBE

Tracey Crouch – DBE

Philip Davies– Knighthood

Mark Spencer– Knighthood

Gregory Campbell– CBE

Parties

Democratic Unionist Party

• Jeffrey Donaldson resigned as party leader on 29 March; Gavin Robinson appointed as interim party leader.

Devolved administrations

Welsh Government

• NHS Wales Joint Commissioning Committee – Ian Green appointed as chair; Dr Paul Worthington, Nia Roberts and Susan Elsmore appointed as independent lay members.

Northern Ireland Executive

• Children’s Court Guardian Agency for Northern Ireland – Gemma Loughran re-appointed as non-executive chair until 22 March 2028; Veronica Callaghan re-appointed as social work professional non-executive member until 22 March 2028.
• Civil Legal Services Appeal Panel – Ciaran Harvey, Jim Kitson, Charles Redpath and Htaik Win re-appointed as presiding members for five years from 1 April until 31 March 2029; Johanna Higgins, Steven Millar, Anne Mullan and Sean O’Hare re-appointed as members for five years from 1 April until 31 March 2029.
• Education Authority – Ronnie Hassard, Marie Lindsay, Trevor Robinson, Arthur Scott, Edith Shaw, John Wilkinson and Eilís Uí Néill appointed as members until 31 March 2025; Revd Canon Amanda Adams, Patricia Carville, Revd Robert Herron, Maurice Johnston and Gillian McGrath re-appointed as members until 31 March 2025.
• Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service – Laura Devlin and Cathal Mallaghan appointed as non-executive (district councillor) members for four years from 9 April until 8 April 2028.
• Northern Ireland Water – Josephine Aston appointed as chair to the board for four years from 1 April; Daniel McSorley appointed as non-executive director for four years from 1 April.
• Western Health and Social Care Trust – Professor Hugh McKenna and Revd Canon Judi McGaffin re-appointed as non-executive (lay) directors for four years until 12 March 2028.

Local authorities

• Argyll and Bute Council – Jim Lynch (SNP) replaced Robin Currie (Lib Dem) as council leader.
• Pembrokeshire County Council – David Simpson to stand down as council leader in May.
• Surrey County Council – Terence Herbert,  currently chief executive at Wiltshire Council, appointed as chief executive from the summer, subject to formal ratification at an extraordinary full council meeting on 9 April.

Industry

Interest Groups

• British Asian Trust – Geetha Rabindrakumar appointed as chief operating officer.
• Data Lab – Brian Hills stood down as chief executive; Heather Thomson appointed as interim chief executive.
• Fire Fighters Charity – Sherine Wheeler appointed as chief executive from 22 April.
• Paul Hamlyn Foundation – Moira Sinclair to stand down as chief executive in February 2025.
• Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents – Rebecca Hickman appointed as chief executive from 1 April.

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