Helen Ghosh
| Dame Helen Ghosh DCB | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Permanent Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department | |
| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office 1 January 2011 |
|
| Secretary | Theresa May |
| Preceded by | Sir David Normington |
| Permanent Under-Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs | |
| In office 7 November 2005 – 31 December 2010 |
|
| Secretary | Margaret Beckett David Miliband Hilary Benn Caroline Spelman |
| Preceded by | Sir Brian Bender |
| Succeeded by | Bronwyn Hill |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 21 February 1956 Farnborough, Hampshire |
| Nationality | British |
| Spouse(s) | married |
| Children | one son, one daughter |
| Alma mater | St Hugh's College, Oxford Hertford College, Oxford |
| Occupation | Civil Servant |
Dame Helen Frances Ghosh DCB (born 21 February 1956) is a British civil servant. She is currently the Permanent Secretary of the Home Office, having moved from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) at the end of 2010. At the time of her appointment at Defra, she was the only female permanent secretary to head a major department of the British Government.[1]
Contents |
[edit] Personal life
She was born in Farnborough, Hampshire in 1956, to a civil service scientist and a librarian,[2] and educated at Farnborough Hill Convent, St Hugh's College, Oxford and Hertford College, Oxford. She is married with one daughter and one son.
[edit] Career
Ghosh joined the Department of the Environment in 1979 as an Administration Trainee and held a series of policy roles. She was appointed Private Secretary to the Minister for Environment and Housing in 1986-88 and Head of the Housing Policy and Home Ownership Team in 1992. In July 1995, she joined the Cabinet Office on loan as Deputy Director of the Efficiency Unit then moved to a more operationally focused role in 1997 in the Government Office for London, where she worked as Director for London East and European Programmes, which brought her into contact with a variety of EU bodies, in particular those administering regeneration funds.
Between May 1999 and November 1999, she was Head of the New Deal for Communities Programme at the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions, working on cross-cutting and delivery issues. She then joined the Department for Work and Pensions as Director of the Children's Group, which had responsibility for child benefit, child support, child poverty issues and the Tax Credit Programme.
She rejoined the Cabinet Office on 22 October 2001, as Head of Central Secretariat[3] and, in 2003, became Director General for Corporate Services at HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC),[4] where she played an important part in the transformation programme merging the Inland Revenue and Customs & Excise to form the new department. She was appointed Permanent Secretary at Defra on 7 November 2005.[5][6] She replaced Sir David Normington as Permanent Secretary at the Home Office in January 2011.[7]
She was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the Bath (DCB) in the Queen's Birthday Honours list in June 2008.[8]
[edit] Non-executive positions
In 2007 Ghosh joined the Board of the National School for Government.[9] Helen Ghosh is chair of the Blackfriars Overseas Aid Trust, based in Oxford.[10]
[edit] References
- ^ Bawden, Anna (2007-03-21). "The gender agenda". The Guardian. http://society.guardian.co.uk/publicmanager/story/0,,2038455,00.html. Retrieved 2010-12-07.
- ^ "On the charm offensive". The Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/public/womeninpublic/story/0,,1720843,00.html. Retrieved 2010-12-07.
- ^ Cabinet Office (2001-10-30). "Senior Appointment: Head of Central Secretariat". Government News Network. Archived from the original on 2007-09-30. http://web.archive.org/web/20070930165318/http://www.gnn.gov.uk/Content/Detail.asp?ReleaseID=49652&NewsAreaID=2&print=false. Retrieved 2010-12-07. (via Wayback Machine)}}
- ^ Inland Revenue (2003-03-10). "Inland Revenue Board Changes". Ernst & Young LLP. Archived from the original on 2007-10-22. http://web.archive.org/web/20071022162148/http://213.86.35.230/UKTaxLibrary/UK+Tax+Other/Tax+administration+and+enforcement+pre-2006/Inland+Revenue+Board+Changes.htm?NRMODE=Published. Retrieved 2010-12-07. (via Wayback Machine)
- ^ "New Permanent Secretary of Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs" (Press release). Prime Minister's Office. 2005-10-13. http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/+/http://www.number10.gov.uk/Page8304. Retrieved 2010-12-07.
- ^ Written answers by Lord Bach to Parliamentary Questions asked by Baroness Byford, Hansard, 19 December 2005.
- ^ "Dame Helen Ghosh to become Home Office Permanent Secretary" (Press release). Home Office. 2010-12-06. http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/media-centre/news/helen-ghosh. Retrieved 2010-12-07.
- ^ "The Queen's Birthday Honours". The Independent. 2008-06-14. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/the-queens-birthday-honours-anna-wintour-calzaghe-and-nyman-make-list-846944.html. Retrieved 2008-06-14.
- ^ "National School Becomes New Government Department" (Press release). National School of Government. 2006-12-21. http://www.nationalschool.gov.uk/news_events/stories/newgovernementdepartment.asp. Retrieved 2010-12-07. "4. The National School Board comprises: Sir Brian Bender (Chair), Permanent Secretary, Department of Trade and Industry : Sir John Elvidge, Permanent Secretary, Scottish Government : Helen Ghosh, Permanent Secretary, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs : ...."
- ^ "288585 - Blackfriars Overseas Trust". Charity Commission. http://www.charitycommission.gov.uk/ShowCharity/RegisterOfCharities/CharityWithoutPartB.aspx?RegisteredCharityNumber=288585&SubsidiaryNumber=0. Retrieved 2010-12-07.
[edit] See also
- "Putting a positive spin on leading Defra", an interview with Helen Ghosh, Public Servant Daily, 23 June 2006
- "Big City Smallholder", an interview with Helen Ghosh, Whitehall and Westminster Civil Service Network, 10 October 2006
- "The Green Machine", an interview with Helen Ghosh, Whitehall and Westminster Civil Service Network, 1 May 2007
- "Renewing Defra", news article, Whitehall and Westminster Civil Service Network, 2 May 2007
- "Ghosh keen to learn from rural payments", news article, Whitehall and Westminster Civil Service Network, 3 May 2007
- "Dying bees 'were not a priority'", news article, BBC News, 18 March 2009
| Government offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Sir Brian Bender |
Permanent Secretary of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 2005-2010 |
Succeeded by Bronwyn Hill 2011- |
| Preceded by Sir David Normington |
Permanent Secretary of the Home Office 2010- |
Succeeded by Incumbent |
- Alumni of the University of Oxford
- 1956 births
- Permanent Under-Secretaries of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
- Civil servants in the Department of the Environment
- Civil servants in the Cabinet Office
- Civil servants in the Department for the Environment, Transport and the Regions
- Civil servants in the Department for Work and Pensions
- Private secretaries in the British Civil Service
- Living people
- Dames Commander of the Order of the Bath
- People from Farnborough, Hampshire
