David Williams (civil servant)
David Williams | |
|---|---|
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| Permanent Under-Secretary of State for Defence | |
| Assumed office April 2021 | |
| Sec. of State | Ben Wallace Grant Shapps John Healey |
| Preceded by | Stephen Lovegrove |
| Second Permanent Secretary at the Department of Health and Social Care | |
| In office March 2020 – April 2021 | |
| Prime Minister | Boris Johnson |
| Sec. of State | Matt Hancock |
| Preceded by | Office established[1] |
| Succeeded by | Shona Dunn |
| Personal details | |
| Born | December 1968 (age 57) |
| Education | Corpus Christi College, Oxford |
| Occupation | Civil servant |
David Peter Williams CB (born December 1968[2]) is a British civil servant who has served as the permanent under-secretary of state for defence since April 2021.[3]
Career
From 2015, Williams served in various administrative positions in both the Department of Health and Social Care and the Ministry of Defence. In March 2020, at the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak in the United Kingdom, he was appointed second permanent secretary at the Department of Health and Social Care.[3]
In April 2021 he became the permanent under-secretary of state for defence, succeeding Stephen Lovegrove.[3] As Permanent Secretary his responsibilities include "the overall organisation, management and staffing of defence". In the wake of the data breach in February 2022 by an individual at the headquarters of the UK Special Forces, a Defence Review led to a major reorganisation of the department, and Williams is to be replaced in autumn 2025.[4][5]
He is a policy leaders fellow at the University of Cambridge's Centre for Science and Policy.[6]
Honours
Williams was appointed Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB) in the 2020 New Year Honours "for services to Government Finances."[6][7]
References
- ^ "Department of Health & Social Care". HM Government. Archived from the original on 13 March 2020. Retrieved 5 November 2021.
- ^ "BABCOCK LAND DEFENCE LIMITED". gov.uk. HM Government. Retrieved 5 November 2021.
- ^ a b c "David Williams". gov.uk. HM Government. Retrieved 5 November 2021.
- ^ Jennifer McKiernan; Damian Grammaticas (1 August 2025). "Top MoD civil servant to leave in wake of Afghan data breach". BBC News.
- ^ Aubrey Allegretti (1 August 2025). "Top MoD civil servant to quit in wake of Afghan data leak fallout". the Times.
- ^ a b "David Williams". Centre for Science and Policy. Centre for Science and Policy. Retrieved 5 November 2021.
- ^ "New Year Honours list 2020". GOV.UK. 27 December 2019. Retrieved 21 January 2023.