Latest civil service & public affairs moves – July 24-11 September

UK Government

• Department for Business and Trade –  Oliver Christian appointed as His Majesty’s Trade Commissioner to the Middle East and Pakistan and His Majesty’s Consul General to Dubai from September 2023. Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service Council – Clare Chapman re-appointed as chair for three years; Martin McTague and Kevin Rowan appointed for three years from 20 September 2023. Central Arbitration Committee – Stephen Redmond re-appointed as chair from 1 September. Financial Reporting Council – Richard Moriarty appointed as chief executive, succeeding Sir Jon Thompson.
• Cabinet Office: Advisory Committee on Business Appointments – Hedley Finn OBE, Dawid Konotey-Ahulu CBE and Michael Prescott appointed as independent members from August. Queen Elizabeth Memorial Committee – Lord Janvrin appointed as chair.
• Department for Culture, Media and Sport – Simon Ball appointed as non-executive board member of the departmental board for three years until 16 July 2026; Dame Patricia Hodgson, Larissa Joy and Ralph Rimmer appointed as non-executive board members of the departmental board for three years until 5 July 2026. Advisory Committee on the Government Art Collection – Sir Richard Heaton appointed as chair for four years from 3 September. Historic England – Lord Mendoza appointed as chair for four years from 1 September until 31 August 2027; Ben Derbyshire and Prof Helena Hamerow re-appointed as commissioners for four years from 1 September. British Film Institute Board – Declan Keeney appointed as Northern Ireland governor for four years until 26 June 2027. British Library – Dr Jeremy Silver, Laela Pakpour Tabrizi and Dr Wei Yang re-appointed as board members for four years. Historic Royal Palaces – Sir Nicholas Coleridge appointed as chair of from 1 November until 31 October 2026. Imperial War Museum – Prof Margaret MacMillan re-appointed as trustee for three years and four months from 1 October until 31 January 2027; Sir Guy Weston re-appointed as trustee for four years from 3 November until 2 November 2027. National Lottery Community Fund – Paul Sweeney appointed as interim chair for 12 months. National Portrait Gallery – Victoria Siddall appointed as cultural trustee for four years.
  Sport England – Natalie Daniels appointed as board member for three years until 6 August 2026. Natural History Museum – Shahpur Kabraji appointed as trustee of the board until 2 June 2026. VisitEngland Advisory Board – Victoria Borwick appointed as chair for five years from 4 September.
• Ministry of Defence – Ben Wallace resigned as secretary of state for defence on 30 August; Grant Shapps appointed as secretary of state for defence on 31 August.
• Department for Education – David Johnston appointed as parliamentary under-secretary of state for children, families and wellbeing on 31 August.
• Department for Energy Security and Net Zero – Claire Coutinho appointed as secretary of state for energy security and net zero on 31 August. UK Atomic Energy Authority – Prof David Gann CBE appointed as the inaugural chair of UK Industrial Fusion Solution.
• Department for Energy Security and Net Zero and Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change – Prof Jim Skea elected as chair.
• Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs – Heather Hancock LVO DL appointed as lead non-executive board member of the departmental board. Consumer Council for Water – Robert Wilson re-appointed as board member until 30 December 2026. Natural England – Kim Shillinglaw and Peter Unwin re-appointed as board members until 31 May 2026; Rosamund Blomfield-Smith and Kerry ten Kate’s terms as board members extended for nine months until 29 February 2024.
• Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office – Pamela Joanne McPhail appointed as British High Commissioner to the Gabonese Republic from September, succeeding Dr Christian Dennys-McClure. Dominic Jermey CVO OBE appointed as His Majesty’s Ambassador to the Republic of Indonesia and Non-Resident Ambassador to the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste from August, succeeding Owen Jenkins CMG who will be transferring to another Diplomatic Service appointment. Dr Martin Longden CMG OBE appointed as His Majesty’s Ambassador to Libya from October, succeeding Caroline Hurndall MBE who will be transferring to another Diplomatic Service appointment. Anne Macro appointed as British High Commissioner to the Independent State of Papua New Guinea from September, succeeding Keith Scott who will be transferring to another Diplomatic Service appointment. Neerav Patel appointed as His Majesty’s Ambassador to the State of Qatar from February 2024, succeeding Jonathan Wilks CMG who will be retiring from the Diplomatic Service. Nigel Casey CMG MVO appointed as His Majesty’s Ambassador to the Russian Federation from November, succeeding Dame Deborah Bronnert DCMG who will be transferring to another Diplomatic Service appointment. Jeffrey Glekin appointed as British High Commissioner to the Republic of Seychelles from October, succeeding Patrick Lynch who will transfer to another Diplomatic Service appointment. British Council – Paul Thompson elected as chair.
• Department of Health and Social Care: Essex Mental Health Independent Inquiry – Baroness Lampard CBE appointed as chair. Health Research Authority – Neelam Patel re-appointed as non-executive director for three years from 1 April 2024 until 31 March 2027. Health Services Safety Investigations Body – Michael Durkin and Marc Esmiley appointed as non-executive directors for two years from 1 October; Mary Cunneen and Marisa Logan-Ward appointed as non-executive directors for three years from 1 October; Peter Schild appointed as non-executive director and chair of the Audit and Risk Assurance Committee for three years from 1 October. Before this all appointees will start in their roles from 1 September in a designate capacity until the new body is formally established from October. Inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the crimes of Lucy Letby – Lady Justice Thirlwall appointed as chair.
• Home Office – Bas Javid appointed as director-general of immigration enforcement from November. Wendy Williams CBE appointed as Inspector of Constabulary for England and Wales and Inspector of Fire and Rescue Authorities in England from 1 October until 31 December. Prof Fraser Sampson to stand down as Biometrics and Surveillance Camera Commissioner from 31 October. Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs – Prof Owen Bowden-Jones re-appointed as chair until 31 December 2025; Dr Anne Campbell, Mohammed Fessal, Lawrence Gibbons, Hillary Hamnett, Prof Graeme Henderson, Dr Carole Hunter, Prof Roger Knaggs, Harry Shapiro, Dr Richard Stevenson, Dr Paul Stokes, Dr Ann Sullivan, Prof David Taylor, Prof Simon Thomas, Dr Derek Tracy and Rosalie Weetman re-appointed as nembers until 31 December 2024; Prof Judith Aldridge and Dr David Wood re-appointed as members until 2 August 2026. Biometrics and Forensics Ethics Group – Prof Mark Watson-Gandy re-appointed as chair from 25 September. Investigatory Powers Tribunal – Sir Jeremy Johnson and Dame Judith Farbey DBE appointed as members until 6 August 2028.
• Ministry of Justice: Boundary Commission for England – Mr Justice Lane re-appointed as deputy chair until 22 December. Boundary Commission for Wales – Mrs Justice Jefford re-appointed as deputy chair until 4 October 2025. Cafcass Board – Dalwardin Babu OBE and Steven Cox appointed as members for four years from 1 September. Judicial Conduct Investigations Office – David Abbott, Dorota Ferguson, Jacqui Francis, Isabel Gouveia-Lima, Isobel Leaviss, Ciara McGarry, Michael Maguire, Emma Moir, Trudy Morrice, Margaret Prythergch, Sarah Scott, Colin Stott, Lynne Vernon, Suzy Walton and Judith Webb appointed as lay panel members for five years.
• Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities: Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman – ​​​​Amerdeep Somal announced as the preferred candidate for ombudsman; she will undergo a pre-appointment scrutiny hearing by the Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Select Committee on 18 September; Paul Najsarek’s term as interim ombudsman extended for four months until 31 January 2024. Planning Inspectorate Board – Emir Feisal appointed as non-executive member and  chair of Audit and Risk Assurance Committee for four years from 1 October until 30 September 2027; Adrian Penfold and Oliver Munn appointed as non-executive members for three years from 1 October until 30 September 2026.
• Northern Ireland Office – Julie Harrison appointed as permanent secretary from September. Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission – Helen Henderson, Jonathan Kearney, David Lavery and Stephen White appointed as commissioners for three years from 1 September. Tourism Northern Ireland (Tourism NI) – Áine Gallagher, Colin Johnston, Linda MacHugh, Aileen Martin and Ciaran O’Neill appointed as board Members from 8 August.
• Department for Science, Innovation and Technology: Building Digital UK – Dean Creamer CBE appointed as chief executive.
• Department for Transport: Office of Rail and Road – Declan Collier re-appointed as chair for five years from 1 January 2024 until 31 December 2028.
• HM Treasury: Bank of England – Sarah Breeden appointed as deputy governor for financial stability from 1 November, succeeding Sir Jon Cunliffe. Office for Budget Responsibility –  Tom Josephs nominated for appointment as member of the Budget Responsibility Committee, replacing Andy King who will step down on 31 August; he will undergo a pre-appointment scrutiny hearing by the Treasury Select Committee in early September.
• Department for Work and Pensions: Industrial Injuries Advisory Council – Dr Chris Stenton, Prof John Cherrie and Prof Max Henderson re-appointed as members from 1 November.

Non-Ministerial Departments

• Charity Commission – Helen Stephenson to stand down as chief executive in July 2024.

• Government Actuary's Department – Fiona Dunsire appointed as Government Actuary for five years, the first female Government Actuary since the creation of the role in 1917.

• Government Legal Department – Sarah Goom appointed as director-general of the Commercial with Trade and International Directorate from September.

• HM Revenue & Customs – Mike McMahon appointed as permanent adjudicator of the Adjudicator’s Office from September, replacing Paul Douglas the current interim adjudicator.

• Ofgem – Mark McAllister announced as the preferred candidate to be chair; he will undergo a pre-appointment scrutiny hearing by the Energy Security and Net Zero Select Committee.

Houses of Parliament

House of Commons

• Rutherglen and Hamilton West recall petition – it was announced on 1 August that 14.66% of the constituency’s electorate voted to remove Margaret Ferrier as MP. A byelection will take place to elect a new MP for Rutherglen and Hamilton West on Thursday 5 October.
• Nadine Dorries appointed as Steward and Bailiff of the Three Hundreds of Chiltern on 29 August. A byelection will take place to elect a new MP for Mid Bedfordshire on Thursday 19 October.
• Christopher Pincher appointed as Steward and Bailiff of the Manor of Northstead on 7 September. A byelection will take place to elected a new MP for Tamworth in due course.
• Business and Trade Committee – Darren Jones resigned as chair on 4 September. Dame Angela Eagle has been nominated to chair the committee.
• Petitions Committee – Catherine McKinnell resigned as chair on 4 September.
• Standards Committee – Chris Bryant resigned as chair on 6 September.

Nominations for chairs of all three select committees will run until noon on 17 October. If there is more than one candidate, a ballot of the whole House will take place on Wednesday 18 October between 11.00 and 14.30.

House of Lords

• Lord Brougham and Vaux (Conservative, hereditary peer) died on 27 August. A byelection to fill the vacancy in the Lords will take place in due course.
• Lord Haworth (Labour, life peer) died on 28 August.
• The Bishop of Carlisle (non-affiliated) retired from the House of Lords on 31 August.
• Lord Ribeiro’s (Conservative, life peer) leave of absence ended on 1 September.
• Baroness Fairhead was a non-affiliated peer; she now sits as a crossbench peer.
• Lord Rosenfield was a Conservative peer; he is now non-affiliated.

Industry

Interest Groups

• Association of Chairs – Ros Oakley to stand down as chief executive.
• Bookmark Reading Charity – Emily Jack appointed as chief executive from 1 September.
• Cherie Blair Foundation for Women – Dhivya O'Connor appointed as chief executive.
• Muslim Aid – Khalid Javid appointed as permanent chief executive; he has been interim chief executive since February.

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