Melanie Dawes becomes DCLG permanent secretary
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Civil servant Melanie Dawes has been announced as the new top official at the Department for Communities and Local Government.
Dawes will move from her current position as head of the economic and domestic secretariat in the Cabinet Office to become permanent secretary at DCLG at the end of February.
She will replace Sir Bob Kerslake, who held the post from 2010 and who will now retire from the civil service.
Communities secretary Eric Pickles, said: “Melanie has a wealth of government experience and expertise which will be invaluable to the department. I have worked with her on many important issues in the past and look forward to doing so again.”
Cabinet secretary, Sir Jeremy Heywood, said: “With her strong track record in cross-government working and stakeholder engagement, as well as her extensive experience working at the centre of government, Melanie will be an excellent leader of this department.”
Kerslake served as chief executive of Sheffield City Council from 1997 to 2008, when he was appointed as chief executive of the Homes and Communities Agency.
He also served as head of the civil service from 2011 until last year, a spell that was initially undermined by anonymous critical briefings attributed to figures close to the prime minister.
Kerslake will take up the role of chair for King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust in June 2015.
Prior to joining HMRC, Dawes spent 15 years at the Treasury, including as Europe director from 2002 to 2006. She started her career as an economist and has worked on public spending, tax and tax credit policy, macroeconomics, monetary policy and the euro.
