Latest civil service & public affairs moves – 20 July

UK government 

• Prime Minister's Office – New political peerages announced on 16 July: Julia Aglionby (Lib Dem); Cathy Ashley (Lab); Marcus Davey (Lab); Alison Garnham (Lab); Parvais Jabbar (Lab); Sir Sadiq Khan (Lab); Hannah Kitching (Lib Dem); Saul Lehrfreund (Lab); Dr Tim Leunig (Lib Dem); Sir Brian Leveson (CB); Alison Lowe (Lab); Christina McAnea (Lab); Dave McCobb (Lib Dem); Ken Macintosh (Lab); Martin McTague (Lab); Barbara Mills (Lab); Roberto Neri (Lab); Mark Petterson (Lib Dem); David Ross (Con); Gen Sir Patrick Sanders (Con); June Sarpong (Lab): Prof Swaran Singh (Con); Tim J Smith (Lab); Nick Stace (Lab); Kitty Ussher (Lab); and Sir Chris Wormald (CB). 
• Department for Business and Trade – Kate Harrisson appointed as His Majesty’s trade commissioner for China and Hong Kong from September. Financial Reporting Council: Dame Jayne-Anne Gadhia appointed chair from September.
• Cabinet Office –  Ethics and Integrity Commission: Revd Ijeoma Ajibade, Nicola Driver, Dr Katerina Hadjimatheou and Dr Samuel Power appointed as independent members for five years from 1 August. Security Vetting Appeals Panel: Sir James Goss appointed as deputy chair for four years; Mary Calam, Delroy Henry, Matthew (Matt) Par, Tracey Tuffuor Oppong and Dr Suzy Walton appointed as lay members until 8 December 2028. 
• Department for Culture, Media and Sport – Michael Dugher appointed as music champion for one year from 13 July. UK Anti-Doping Board: Dr Moiz Moghal appointed as member from 1 August until 31 July 2030; Caitlin Notley appointed as member until 30 June 2030; George Walker and Alison O’Riordan re-appointed as members from 5 September 2026 until 4 September 2030. 
• Ministry of Defence – Cyber & Specialist Operations Command: Maj Gen Phil Carter appointed as interim chief defence medical, following the retirement of Air Marshal Clare Walton. Royal Air Force Museum Board: Caroline Rolfe appointed as trustee until 19 January 2029. 
• Department for Energy Security and Net Zero – Nuclear Decommissioning Authority: Dr Rebecca Weston to leave the NDA group at the end of July. Nuclear Waste Services: Seth Kybird appointed as permanent chief executive. 
• Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs – Natural England: Neil Hornby appointed as chief executive from the autumn. Non-Statutory Inquiry into death of Zane Gbangbola: Dr Sandie Okoro appointed as chair. 
• Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office – Alistair Burt appointed as envoy for complex consular detentions. 
• Department of Health and Social Care – NHS Blood and Transplant: Dr Jayan Parameshwar and Prof Stephen Powis appointed as non-executive directors for three years from 14 July. NHS Business Services Authority: David Leather and Randeep Sidhu’s terms as non-executive directors extended from 7 December until 31 March 2027; Kathryn Gillatt’s term as non-executive director and chair of the audit and risk committee extended from 1 October until 31 March 2027. NHS Pay Review Body: Stephen Boyle’s term as interim chair extended from 1 August until 31 October 2026. 
• Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government – Will Garton became delegated permanent secretary on 13 July. He will become interim permanent secretary on 1 August, when current permanent secretary Dame Sarah Healey moves to the Department for Work and Pensions. HM Land Registry: Dame Gillian Guy appointed as independent complaints reviewer for three years. Housing Ombudsman: Andrea Keenoy appointed as interim ombudsman from 1 August, succeeding Richard Blakeway. Planning Inspectorate: Graham Stallwood appointed as permanent chief executive. 
• Ministry of Justice –  Civil Justice Council: John Cuss, Sue Prince, Laurence Shaw and Elizabeth Smart re-appointed as members for three years. Judicial Appointments Commission: Lynne Berry appointed as chair for 18 months from 1 September. Judicial Pension Board: Carrie Young appointed as an independent member for three years. Youth Justice Board: Phil Bowen re-appointed as interim chair until 30 June 2027; Karin Phillips appointed as member until 30 June 2027; Susannah Hancock, Jacob Sakil and Louise Shorter re-appointed as members from 1 December until 30 June 2027. 
• Department for Science, Innovation and Technology – Information Commissioner’s Office: Laurie Benson, Maggie Carver, Stephen Cohen, Sukhvinder Kaur-Stubbs, Gary Kildare, Hilary Newiss and Scott McPherson appointed as non-executive members. 
• HM Treasury –  Financial Conduct Authority: Dan Lavender appointed as member of the regulatory decisions committee. 
• Department for Work and Pensions – Nest: Brendan McCafferty re-appointed as chair for two years from 31 January 2027. 

Houses of Parliament 

House of Commons 

• Electoral Commission – Hywel Williams appointed as electoral commissioner from 1 October until 30 September 2029; Chris Ruane re-appointed as electoral commissioner from 1 November until 31 October 2030; Sheila Ritchie reappointed as electoral commissioner from 1 February 2027 until 31 January 2031. 
• Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority – Richard Lloyd reappointed as chair from 1 September until 31 August 2029. 
• Summer recess until 31 August. 

House of Lords 

• Lord Laming (Crossbench) died on 15 July. 
• Lord Oakeshott of Seagrove Bay (Non-affiliated) retired from the Lords on 16 July. 
• Committees – European Affairs: Baroness Brown of Silvertown discharged. 

Parties 

Labour Party 

• Andy Burnham MP announced as leader on 17 July. 

Welsh Labour 

• Ken Skates MS confirmed as leader on 15 July. 

Devolved Administrations 

Scottish Parliament 

• Summer recess until 30 August. 

Scottish Government 

• Dundee and Angus College – Laurence O’Donnell re-appointed as chair of the board from 11 July until 10 July 2028. 
• Edinburgh College – Nora Senior re-appointed as chair of the board until 3 July 2030. 
• Historic Environment Scotland – Ronnie Hinds appointed as interim chair from 13 July until 2 July 2027. 
• Scottish Charity Regulator – Marieke Dwarshuis re-appointed as chair of the board from 15 October until 30 November. 

Welsh Parliament 

• Llywydd’s Committee – Kerry Ferguson appointed as chair; Jayne Bryant, Andrew RT Davies, Marc Jones, Sam Rowlands and Stephen Senior appointed as members. 
• Summer Recess until 13 September. 

Welsh Government 

• Welsh Revenue Authority – Ruth Glazzard re-appointed as chair until October 2030. 

Northern Ireland Assembly 

• Summer recess until 30 August. 

Northern Ireland Executive 

• Independent Convenor for the Further Education College Employers' Forum – Gordon Milligan’s term as independent convenor extended for 12 months. 

Local Authorities 

Councils 

• Basildon Council – Rob Walsh appointed as lead for the non-statutory review; Sharon Bridglalsingh appointed as governance reviewer; Margaret Lee appointed as finance reviewer. 
• Norfolk County Council – Kat Hulatt appointed as interim chief executive. 
• Nottingham City Council – Sir Stephen Houghton appointed as political envoy. 
• Richmond-upon-Thames Council and Wandsworth Council – Ana Popovici to be appointed as joint chief executive. 
• Slough Borough Council– Dave Smith appointed as managing director commissioner and chief executive, succeeding Will Tuckley. 
• Spelthorne Borough Council – Barry Scarr appointed as finance commissioner from 15 July until 31 May 2030. 
• Thurrock Council – Deborah Ward to be appointed as chief executive in early autumn. 
• Woking Borough Council – Lesley Seary appointed as lead commissioner from 15 July until 25 May 2028; Deborah McLaughlin appointed as regeneration and housing commissioner from 15 July until 25 May 2028. 

Police and Crime Commissioners 

• Colin Sutton won the Norfolk PCC by-election, becoming Reform UK’s first police and crime commissioner. 

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