Cabinet secretary Simon Case has returned to work after several months of sickness absence, CSW understands.
The Cabinet Office confirmed on 23 October that Case was on leave "because of a private medical matter”. Since then, several permanent secretaries have temporarily taken on each of his responsibilities.
During this period, Case missed a scheduled appearance at the Covid Inquiry Module 2 hearings, which were examining core UK decision making and political governance related to the pandemic. Covid Inquiry chair Heather Hallett excused him from appearing at the inquiry in 2023.
However, Baroness Hallett said Case will still be asked to give evidence to the inquiry at a later date in a special one-off hearing for the module, which examined the initial response to Covid, central government decision making, and political and civil service performance.
Case's return was first revealed on Politico-Sky News podcast Politics at Jack and Sam’s yesterday.
Sky News journalist Sam Coates said: “The cabinet secretary has returned to work. He missed the potential for us to all see him in front of the Covid Inquiry. He has now, it would appear, recovered from his illness and he is back at work and attending meetings.”