Ex-perm sec Clare Moriarty named Citizens Advice chief exec

Former DExEU and Defra head will join the charity next month
Clare Moriarty, photographed for CSW by Paul Heartfield

Dame Clare Moriarty will be the next chief executive of Citizens Advice for England and Wales, the charity has announced.

Moriarty, who was permanent secretary at the Department for Exiting the European Union until leaving government at the beginning of last year, will take up her new post on 26 April.

The ex-perm sec, who previously led the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, has been chairing the Health Foundation’s Covid-19 impact inquiry for the last year.

Moriarty said her work with the Health Foundation had made her “acutely aware of how unevenly the effects of the pandemic have been felt”.

“Many people are struggling, and the help that Citizens Advice offers will be more valuable than ever as we move forward,” she said in a statement.

She is also the Department for Transport’s representative attending the Transport for London Board, where her responsibilities include oversight of emergency funding for TfL’s operations.

She succeeds Alistair Cromwell, who has been acting chief executive at Citizens Advice since Dame Gillian Guy stepped down in October.

Moriarty said she would bring her “passion for diversity and inclusion” to the role.

“Citizens Advice has a proud history of helping people find their way, and is also thoroughly forward-looking. The way that local Citizens Advice services around the country have moved even further towards phone and online advice during the pandemic is truly impressive,” she said.

The Citizens Advice service, which provides impartial advice on money, housing, immigration and work among other things, has given one-to-one advice to two million people, mostly remotely, over the last year. 

Warren Buckley, chair of the charity’s board of trustees, said Mortiarty was a “strong, authentic and inclusive leader with unrivalled experience running large, complex organisations”.

“Her expertise in transformation will help us build on the incredible progress we’ve already made towards providing advice to people over the phone and online, as well as strengthening our face-to-face offer for those who need it,” he said.

“I’m looking forward to working with Clare to ensure that Citizens Advice continues to deliver for people at a time when they need our help more than ever – whoever they are, and whatever their problem.”

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