John-Paul Marks has been appointed as the next permanent secretary and chief executive of HM Revenue and Customs.
Cabinet secretary Chris Wormald, with the approval of the prime minister, has announced the appointment of Marks – known as JP – who is currently the perm sec for the Scottish Government.
Marks, who will replace Sir Jim Harra when he steps down in April, said it is “a privilege to be appointed to lead HMRC”.
Marks said he is looking forward to “supporting the department’s vital work to collect the revenues which fund public services, and to working with the board, colleagues and partners in the years ahead to deliver service modernisation and reform”.
Before moving to the Scottish Government, Marks spent three years as director general for work and health services at the Department for Work and Pensions. He was previously DWP's DG for operations and, prior to that, head of corporate international relations at the UK Pensions Regulator.
Wormald said Marks “brings vast experience to the role from his time as permanent secretary at the Scottish Government and from earlier director general roles at DWP”.
He said Marks is “excellently placed to continue the transformation of HMRC, playing a vital role in delivering the government’s Plan for Change and improving the experiences of taxpayers and businesses across the whole of the UK.”
The recently appointed cab sec, who was previously perm sec for the Department of Health and Social Care, added: “I would like to thank Sir Jim Harra for his leadership of HMRC over the last five years and for his many years of dedicated public service.”
Exchequer secretary to the Treasury James Murray, who chairs the department's board, said he is “delighted JP has been chosen" for the role. He added: “I look forward to working with him on developing a strategy for HMRC which progresses the government’s priorities for HMRC to reduce the tax gap, modernise and reform the tax system and improve customer service.”
Murray also thanked to Harra “for his years of public service” and wished him “all the very best for the future”.
Marks, who has been Scottish Government perm sec since 2022, said he is “grateful to the first minister and his predecessors for the opportunity to serve as permanent secretary”.
He added: “I would like to pay tribute to the civil servants across the Scottish Government and thank our teams and partners for their leadership, professionalism and support. Over the next few months, I, along with my executive team, remain firmly focused on supporting the first minister and delivering his Programme for Government.”
Marks’s appointment follows an external recruitment competition overseen by the independent Civil Service Commission. The process to recruit Marks’s successor will commence shortly.