Today, Downing Street has announced that the Cabinet Secretary, Sir Gus O’Donnell, will
resign at the end of the year. Here is the letter he sent:
Dear Colleagues I wanted to let you know that I am announcing my retirement today, after over six years as Cabinet Secretary and Head of the Civil Service. I will be leaving the civil service at the end of the year. I am extremely proud of the fantastic work that you do up and down the country – delivering services to the public. I have been a civil servant for 32 years and remain convinced of the importance of our traditional values of honesty, objectivity, impartiality and integrity in underpinning all the work that we do. Turning to the future, we are taking the opportunity to restructure roles at the top. Jeremy Heywood, currently Permanent Secretary at No 10, will take over as Cabinet Secretary. The role of Head of the Civil Service will be taken on by one of the current Permanent Secretaries, after a competition. He or she will provide leadership to the civil service alongside their existing departmental responsibilities. Ian Watmore, currently head of the Efficiency and Reform group at the Cabinet Office will become Permanent Secretary of the Cabinet Office. Finally, I would like to thank you all for your continuing hard work and commitment to public service. These are difficult times, but I am confident that you will continue to demonstrate professionalism and pace in facing the challenge of delivering better services with fewer resources. I am also sure that you will provide my successors with the same enthusiastic support which you have given me. Very best wishes Gus O’Donnell
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