Health department boss named Simon Case’s successor as cabinet secretary, a post where he will be expected to help deliver ‘nothing less than the complete rewiring of the British state’
The new cabinet secretary and head of the civil service Sir Chris Wormald has been tasked with leading efforts to do away with departmental silos and increase innovation across Whitehall.
Wormald, who is currently permanent secretary at the Department of Health and Social Care, will succeed Simon Case on 16 December. He has been perm sec at the health department since 2016, having previously served as perm sec at the Department for Educations and Skills from 2012. He was also head of the civil service Policy Profession from 2012 to 2020.
Prime minister Sir Keir Starmer said Wormald “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,” the prime minister continued. “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.”
Simon Case has served as cabinet secretary since September 2020. He announced in September that he would be stepping down due to ill health. 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.”
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Commenting on his appointment, Wormald 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 sovernment’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.”
Professor Sir Chris Whitty will oversee the management of the Department of Health pending the appointment of a new permanent secretary.
Wormald lowdown
The son of a senior civil servant, Wormald grew up in South Wimbledon, attending a state school before going to Oxford University and then joining the Fast Stream. He spent 15 years at the DfE – including stints as principal private secretary to education secretaries Estelle Morris and Charles Clarke.
While at the DfE he earned the respect of former education secretary Lord Adonis, who has praised him as someone who “combines engaging wide-boy charm with bureaucratic mastery”.
In 2006 he became director general of local government and regeneration in the newly-formed Department for Communities and Local Government.
Wormald then moved to the Cabinet Office in 2009, where he was head of the Economic and Domestic Affairs Secretariat and also, under the Coalition government, served as DG in Deputy Prime Minister’s Office. During this time he built a system supporting deputy prime minister Nick Clegg to keep an eye on policymaking across government.
