Prime Minister appoints Sir Chris Wormald as new Cabinet Secretary and Head of the Civil Service

Following an external competition chaired by the First Civil Service Commissioner, the Prime Minister has appointed Sir Chris Wormald as the Cabinet Secretary and Head of the Civil Service. Chris is currently Permanent Secretary of the Department for Health and Social Care.

Chris will succeed Simon Case C.V.O who announced he was standing down in September. Simon has been Cabinet Secretary and Head of the Civil Service since September 2020 and will stand down from this role on 16 December.

The new Cabinet Secretary will drive delivery on the Government's ambitious agenda, including through the five missions, and lead and manage the Permanent Secretaries who run Government departments to drive forward innovation, change and our ambitious reform agenda.  The Cabinet Secretary is also the most senior official adviser to the Prime Minister and Cabinet.

The Prime Minister said:

I want to thank Simon for his service to our country and for the invaluable support he has given to me personally during my first months as Prime Minister. He has been a remarkable public servant over many years, and our best wishes go to him and his family as he now takes time to focus on his health.

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.

To change this country, we must change the way government serves this country. That is what Mission-led government will do. From breaking down silos across government to harnessing the incredible potential of technology and innovation, it will require nothing less than the complete re-wiring of the British state to deliver bold and ambitious long-term reform.

Delivering this scale of change will require exceptional civil service leadership. There could be no-one better placed to drive forward our Plan For Change than Chris, and I look forward to working with him as we fulfil the mandate of this new government, improving the lives of working people and strengthening our country with a decade of national renewal.

Commenting on his appointment, Sir Chris said:

I am delighted that the Prime Minister has appointed me to 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.

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.

So I look forward to working with leaders across Government, to ensure that the Civil Service has the skills they need to deliver across the breadth of the country.

Sir Chris will take up his new post on 16 December.

Notes to editors:

• Chris Wormald became Permanent Secretary of DHSC in 2016.  He had previously been Permanent Secretary of the Department for Educations and Skills from 2012-2016 and Head of the Economic and Domestic Affairs Secretariat in the Cabinet Office from 2009-2011.

• Professor Sir Chris Whitty will oversee the management of the Department for Health pending the appointment of a new Permanent Secretary.

• This appointment was made following a full fair and open external competition, chaired by the First Civil Service Commissioner. Other panel members included former Cabinet Secretary Lord Gus O'Donnell, Chair of John Lewis Sharon White and Lead Non-Executive Director on the Board of the Ministry of Defence Brian McBride.