Permanent Secretaries: Recruitment
(asked on 28th April 2025) - View Source
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent on 7 April (HL6018), and to the Written Answer by the Parliamentary Secretary at the Cabinet Office on 21 October 2019 (HC463), why it was possible, in the case of the latter, to provide a full list of Permanent Secretary-level appointments, but not in the case of the former; and whether they will now provide a corresponding list of current Permanent Secretary-level appointments, including whether each appointment is fixed-term and its expiry date.
Since 2014, permanent secretary appointments have been made on the basis of a five year fixed tenure; this is set out in contracts of employment. There is no automatic presumption in favour of renewal, but renewals are possible at the discretion of the Prime Minister.
The table below sets out the tenure end dates of the current permanent secretary group.
Permanent Secretary | Role | Appointment to current post | Tenure end date |
Susan Acland-Hood | Permanent Secretary DFE | 01/09/2020 | 6/12/2025 |
Madeleine Alessandri | Chair Joint Intelligence Committee | 01/07/2023 | 30/06/2026 |
Sam Beckett | Second Permanent Secretary HMT | 31/05/2023 | 30/05/2028 |
Graeme Biggar | Director General NCA | 15/08/2022 | 14/08/2027 |
James Bowler | Permanent Secretary HMT | 17/10/2022 | 16/10/2027 |
Gareth Davies | Permanent Secretary DBT | 07/02/2023 | 06/02/2028 |
Jessica DeMounteney | First Parliamentary Counsel | 01/05/2024 | 30/04/2029 |
Ian Diamond | Permanent Secretary ONS | 20/08/2019 | 31/03/2028 |
Nick Dyer | Second Permanent under Secretary FCDO | 03/07/2023 | 02/07/2028 |
Michael Ellam | Second Permanent Secretary European Union and International Economic Affairs CO | 13/01/2025 | 12/01/2030 |
Tamara Finkelstein*** | Permanent Secretary Defra | 19/06/2019 | 18/06/2029 |
Andrew Goodall* | Permanent Secretary Welsh Government | 01/11/2021 | 31/10/2026 |
Joe Griffin | Permanent Secretary Scottish Government | 06/04/2025 | 05/04/2030 |
Jenny Harries*** | Chief Executive UKHSA | 01/04/2021 | 31/03/2026 |
Julie Harrison | Permanent Secretary NIO | 06/09/2023 | 05/09/2028 |
Sarah Healey | Permanent Secretary MHCLG | 07/02/2023 | 06/02/2028 |
Anne Keast-Butler | Director GCHQ | 12/05/2023 | 11/05/2028 |
Bernadette Kelly | Permanent Secretary DFT | 18/04/2017 | 13/06/2025 |
Cat Little | Permanent Secretary CO | 02/04/2024 | 01/04/2029 |
Angela MacDonald | Second Permanent Secretary HMRC | 01/08/2020 | 31/07/2025 |
JP Marks | Permanent Secretary HMRC | 06/04/2025 | 05/04/2030 |
Clive Maxwell | Second Permanent Secretary DESNZ | 06/02/2023 | 11/11/2027 |
Ken McCallum | Director General Security Service | 25/04/2020 | 24/04/2030 |
Susanna McGibbon | Treasury Solicitor and Permanent Secretary GLD | 08/03/2021 | 07/03/2026 |
Angela McLean | Government Chief Scientific Adviser | 01/04/2023 | 31/03/2028 |
Maddy McTernan | Chief of Defence Nuclear MoD | 06/09/2023 | 05/09/2028 |
Richard Moore | Chief Secret Intelligence Service | 01/10/2020 | 30/09/2025 |
Sarah Munby*** | Permanent Secretary DSIT | 02/02/2023 | 01/02/2028 |
Stephen Parkinson | Director of Public Prosecutions CPS | 01/11/2023 | 31/10/2028 |
Jeremy Pocklington | Permanent Secretary DESNZ | 07/02/2023 | 06/02/2028 |
Simon Ridley | Second Permanent Secretary HO | 18/04/2023 | 17/04/2028 |
Tom Riordan | Second Permanent Secretary DHSC | 23/09/2024 | 22/09/2029 |
Oliver Robbins | Permanent under Secretary FCDO | 13/01/2025 | 12/01/2030 |
Antonia Romeo | Permanent Secretary MoJ | 14/04/2025 | 13/04/2030 |
Beth Russell | Second Permanent Secretary HMT | 17/10/2022 | 17/10/2027 |
Peter Schofield | Permanent Secretary DWP | 16/01/2018 | 15/01/2026 |
Jo Shanmugalingam | Second Permanent Secretary DFT | 30/05/2023 | 29/05/2028 |
Andy Start** | Chief Executive DE&S | 05/09/2022 | 04/09/2025 |
Susannah Storey | Permanent Secretary DCMS | 10/07/2023 | 09/07/2028 |
Clara Swinson | Second Permanent Secretary Mission Delivery Unit, CO | 16/09/2024 | 15/09/2029 |
Chris Whitty | Chief Medical Officer DHSC | 01/10/2019 | 30/09/2029 |
David Williams | Permanent Secretary MOD | 06/04/2021 | 05/04/2026 |
Chris Wormald | Cabinet Secretary | 16/12/2024 | 15/12/2029 |
*Andrew Goodall is on secondment from NHS Wales
**Andy Start is on a Fixed Term contract
*** Tamara Finkelstein, Jenny Harries and Sarah Munby are leaving the Civil Service in Summer 2025, and therefore before their tenure end date