New permanent secretary to the Cabinet Office appointed

Cat Little has been appointed the new civil service chief operating officer and permanent secretary to the cabinet office.

Little is currently second permanent secretary at HM Treasury and head of the Government Finance Function. She was appointed by the cabinet secretary with the approval of the prime minister following an open competition.

She has previously been involved in policy and strategy making at the highest levels in major departments such as the Ministry of Defence and the Ministry of Justice and has also spent four years working in the centre of government in HM Treasury.

The cabinet secretary and head of the civil service, Simon Case said: "I am delighted to appoint Cat to this role. Cat’s experience makes her uniquely positioned to lead the Cabinet Office through the next stage of its development, ensuring excellence in both the Cabinet Office’s historic role supporting the Prime Minister, the Deputy Prime Minister and Cabinet, and excellence in the delivery of cross-government functions. Cat will also continue to lead reform of the Civil Service, working hand-in-hand with senior leaders across the Civil Service to ensure we are equipped to provide the very best support to the government of the day. I wish Cat every success in her new role and look forward to working with her.

"I would also like to thank Alex Chisholm for his dedication and service over the last four years, and for his many years of public service before joining the Cabinet Office. I am personally very grateful to Alex for his leadership of the department and his commitment to driving reform across government."

Commenting on her new role, Cat Little said: "It is a great honour to lead the Cabinet Office team, and to support the work of Government and departments at the heart of the Civil Service.  I would like to thank Alex Chisholm for his leadership and support as a colleague over many years. It is humbling to follow in his footsteps. It has been an honour to lead the finance function at the heart of HM Treasury and to oversee public spending and international finance through some complex and challenging times but I look forward to continuing our partnership at the centre of government as Civil Service Chief Operating Officer and Permanent Secretary to the Cabinet Office.

"I am looking forward to getting to know Cabinet Office teams, supporting cross-cutting systems delivery, continued functional excellence and leading the next phase of Civil Service reform."

Image: Smuconlaw., CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons