CHRIS WORMALD, Former Permanent Secretary at the Department of Health,
2 min read
Sir Chris Wormald has been appointed the next Cabinet Secretary and Head of the Civil Service.
Wormald, who is currently Permanent Secretary of the Department for Health and Social Care, also previously worked as Permanent Secretary for the Department for Education and Director General in the Deputy Prime Minister’s Office.
His appointment comes after Simon Case, who was appointed Cabinet Secretary and Head of the Civil Service in September 2020, announced earlier this year that he would step down from the role due to health reasons.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer chose Wormald to lead the civil service after interviewing several candidates.
Starmer said: “I am delighted that Chris Wormald has agreed to become the next Cabinet Secretary. He brings a wealth of experience to this role at a critical moment in the work of change this new government has begun.”
Wormald said he was “delighted” to take on the “privileged role of leading our talented Civil Service, as we rise to the challenge of delivering the Government’s focused agenda to deliver its Plan for Change”.
He added: “The Government has set a clear mandate – an ambitious agenda with working people at its heart. That will require each and every one of us to embrace the change agenda in how the British state operates.”
The Cabinet Secretary is the most senior civil servant, the Prime Minister’s most senior policy adviser, and acts as Secretary to the Cabinet, responsible to all ministers for the running of Cabinet Government.
Deadlines for the role, which offered a salary of £200,000, closed on 20 October 2024.
The job application said that the Cabinet Secretary would be responsible for “leading reform and improvement in the Civil Service” to ensure it can deliver on the new Government’s mission-led approach and “to enable delivery of the Government’s five key Missions”.
Dame Antonia Romeo, permanent secretary at the Ministry of Justice, Sir Olly Robbins, a former director-general of the civil service, and Tamara Finkelstein, permanent secretary at the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs had also been reported as having made the shortlist.
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