Latest civil service & public affairs moves – 15 December

UK government

• Prime Minister's Office: Dean of Winchester – The Reverend Canon Christopher Palmer, canon residentiary and treasurer of Exeter Cathedral appointed, replacing The Very Reverend Catherine Ogle. Suffragan Bishop of Grimsby – Venerable Jean Ann Burgess appointed.
• Department for Business and Trade: The Insolvency Service – Duncan Beach appointed chief executive from 5 January 2026.
• Cabinet Office: UK Statistics Authority – Emma Rourke to step down as acting national statistician later this month, with a new appointment expected from the end of January.
• Department for Culture, Media and Sport: Arts Council England – Grace Chan, Jonathan Douglas, Jon Gilchrist and Jo Verrent appointed national council members from 1 December. UK Sport – Sally Bolton, Annie Panter, and Martyn Worsley appointments as board members extended to July 2026.
• Department for Energy Security and Net Zero: Great British Energy – Nuclear – Simon Roddy appointed chief executive from 2 March 2026. Climate Change Committee – Stephen Dillon appointed as senior external affairs manager. He is responsible for leading the CCC’s engagement with Parliamentarians and policymakers across Westminster, the Scottish and Welsh Governments and the Northern Ireland Executive. He will also lead engagement with wider expert stakeholders in business, industry, and trade bodies. Blánaid Sheeran has joined as senior international engagement manager. She will lead the organisation’s international strategy, with a primary focus on the continued delivery of the UK PACT-funded programme (Partnering for Accelerated Climate Transitions) and ongoing engagement with the International Climate Councils Network. 
• Department of Health and Social Care: Advisory Committee on Clinical Impact Awards –Professor Kevin Davies re-appointed medical director until 30 November 2026. British Pharmacopoeia Commission – Dr Emre Amirak re-appointed from 22 June 2025 for 2 years. Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency – Mercy Jeyasingham, Dr Junaid Bajwa and Rajakumari Long re-appointed as non-executive directors. NHS Resolution – Janice Barber re-appointed non-executive director from 18 January 2027 for 1 year.
• Home Office: Domestic Abuse Commissioner – Dame Nicole Jacobs reappointed as commissioner from September 2025 until September 2028. Independent Inquiry into Grooming Gangs – Baroness Anne Longfield appointed to lead the inquiry, alongside Zoe Billingham and Eleanor Kelly as part of a 3-person panel.
• Ministry of Justice: Parole Board – Anne Molyneux appointed vice chair from 6 December 2025 for 5 years. Prison Service Pay Review Body – Mark Hamilton appointed as member from 1 December 2025 for 5 years.
• Department for Science, Innovation and Technology – Chief digital officer role to be merged into the permanent secretary’s existing role. Government Digital Service – Aimee Smith appointed chief data officer, replacing Lindsay Mason.
• HM Treasury: Bank of England – David Roberts reappointed chair of the Court of Directors from 24 October 2026, and Dame Anne Glover and Diana Noble reappointed non-executive directors. Financial Conduct Authority – Sophie Hutcherson re-appointed non-executive director for a second 3-year term until 16 April 2029. Women in Finance Champion – Nationwide CEO Dame Debbie Crosbie appointed from 1 January 2026, replacing Dame Amanda Blanc.

House of Parliament

House of Commons

Committees

• Modernisation – Daniel Francis, Rachel Hopkins and Leigh Ingham added; Sarah Coombes, Chris Elmore and Chris Vince discharged.
• Northern Ireland Affairs – Dan Aldridge discharged.

House of Lords

• Lord Offord of Garvel defected from Conservatives to Reform UK on 6 December. He announced he plans to stand down from the Lords and become a Reform UK candidate for the 2026 Scottish Parliament election.
• Lord Dannatt (Crossbench) was suspended from the Lords for four months on 8 December.
• Lord Evans of Watford (Non-affiliated) was suspended from the Lords for five months on 8 December.
• Baroness Neate (Crossbench) was introduced in the Lords on 9 December.

34 new peerages announced on 10 December:

• Nominated by leader of the Labour Party – Andy (Andrew) Roe, Dame Ann Limb, Brenda Dacres, Carol Linforth, Catherine MacLeod, David Isaac, David Pitt-Watson, Farmida Bi, Professor Geeta Nargund, Katie Martin, Joe Docherty, Len (Leonard) Duvall, Matthew Doyle, Sir Michael Barber, Neena Gill, Nick (Nicholas) Forbes, Peter Babudu, Peter John, Richard Walker, Russell Hobby, Dr Sara Hyde, Shama Tatler, Dr Sophy Antrobus, Tracey Paul, Uday Nagaraju
• Nominated by the leader of the Liberal Democrats Party – Mike Dixon, Dominic Hubbard (Lord Addington), Rhiannon Leaman, John Russell (Earl Russell), Sarah Teather
• Nominated by the leader of the Conservative Party – Sharron Davies, Simon Heffer, Sir John Redwood
• Nominations for crossbench peerages – Charles Kinnoull (The Earl of Kinnoull)

Committees

The Liaison Committee has proposed and agreed on four special inquiry committees for 2026 – members still to be announced:

• Childhood Vaccination Rates
• National Resilience
• Numeracy
• Domestic Abuse Act 2021

Devolved administrations

Scottish Parliament

• Education, Children and Young People Committee – Paul O’Kane added.
• Social Justice and Social Security Committee – Claire Baker added; Michael Marra discharged.

Welsh Parliament

• Petitions Committee – Lindsay Whittle added; Luke Fletcher discharged.

Welsh Government

• Dysgu – Professor Dylan E Jones appointed chair from 5 January 2026 for 4 years.
• Velindre University NHS Trust – Carl James appointed interim chief executive.

Northern Ireland Assembly

• William Irwin has announced he will stand down as MLA for Newry and Armagh at the end of 2025.

Northern Ireland Executive

• Department of Health – Professor Ian Young to step down as chief scientific adviser.

Local authorities

Councils

• Croydon – Elaine Jackson appointed interim chief executive on 11 December for 12 months.
• East Cambridgeshire – Emma Grima appointed chief executive from 1 January, replacing John Hill.

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