Dame Helen Frances Ghosh, DCB (; ; Kirkby; born 21 February 1956) is a former British civil servant who has been

Master of Balliol College, Oxford Master or masters may refer to: Ranks or titles * Ascended master, a term used in the Theosophical religious tradition to refer to spiritually enlightened beings who in past incarnations were ordinary humans *Grandmaster (chess), National Master ...

since 2018. She was previously Director-General of the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty from November 2012 to April 2018. From 1979 to 2012 she was a British civil servant. She was Permanent Secretary at the Home Office from January 2011 to November 2012, and prior to that was Permanent Secretary at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) from November 2005 to the end of 2010. On appointment at DEFRA, she was the only female permanent secretary to head a major department of the British Government.

Early life and education

Ghosh was born Helen Frances Kirkby in Farnborough, Hampshire, in 1956, daughter of William Kirkby, a civil service scientist, and his wife, Eileen (née Howe), a librarian. She was educated at

Farnborough Hill Farnborough Hill is a Roman Catholic independent day school for 550 girls aged 11–18 located in Farnborough, Hampshire. The school was established by the Religious of Christian Education order of nuns in 1889 and moved to the current site whe ...

, an all-girls

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

Catholic school. She studied modern history at St Hugh's College, Oxford, graduating with a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four year ...

(BA) degree in 1976. She then undertook

postgraduate Postgraduate or graduate education refers to academic or professional degrees, certificates, diplomas, or other qualifications pursued by post-secondary students who have earned an undergraduate ( bachelor's) degree. The organization and ...

study at

Hertford College, Oxford Hertford College ( ), previously known as Magdalen Hall, is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. It is located on Catte Street in the centre of Oxford, directly opposite the main gate to the Bodleian Library. The col ...

, graduating with a

Master of Letters The Master of Letters degree (MLitt or LittM; Latin ' or ') is a postgraduate degree. Ireland Trinity College Dublin and Maynooth University offer MLitt degrees. Trinity has offered them the longest, owing largely to its tradition as Ireland ...

(MLitt) in 1980; her

thesis A thesis ( : theses), or dissertation (abbreviated diss.), is a document submitted in support of candidature for an academic degree or professional qualification presenting the author's research and findings.International Standard ISO 7144: ...

concerned the history of Italy in the 6th century.

Career

Ghosh joined the

Department of the Environment An environmental ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for the environment and/or natural resources. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of the Environment, ...

in 1979 as an administration trainee. From 1981 to 1983 she was assistant private secretary to

Michael Heseltine Michael Ray Dibdin Heseltine, Baron Heseltine, (; born 21 March 1933) is a British politician and businessman. Having begun his career as a property developer, he became one of the founders of the publishing house Haymarket. Heseltine served ...

, the

Secretary of State for the Environment The Secretary of State for the Environment was a UK cabinet position, responsible for the Department of the Environment (DoE). This was created by Edward Heath as a combination of the Ministry of Housing and Local Government, the Ministry of T ...

. She was private secretary to the Minister for Environment and Housing from 1986 to 1988, and was head of the Housing Policy and Home Ownership Team from 1992 to 1995. In July 1995 she joined the Cabinet Office on loan, as deputy director of the Efficiency Unit. She left the post in May 1997 to become director of the London East and European Programmes at the Government Office for London. Between May 1999 and November 1999, she was head of the New Deal for Communities Programme at the

Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions The Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions was a United Kingdom Cabinet position created in 1997, with responsibility for the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions (DETR). The position and department ...

. She then joined the

Department for Work and Pensions , type = Department , seal = , logo = Department for Work and Pensions logo.svg , logo_width = 166px , formed = , preceding1 = , jurisdiction = Government of the United Kingdom , headquarters = Caxton House7th Floor6–12 Tothill Stree ...

as director of the Children's Group. She rejoined the Cabinet Office in October 2001, as head of Central Secretariat, and, in 2003, became director general for Corporate Services at

HM Revenue & Customs , patch = , patchcaption = , logo = HM Revenue & Customs.svg , logocaption = , badge = , badgecaption = , flag = , flagcaption = , image_size = , co ...

(HMRC), where she played an important part in the transformation programme merging the

Inland Revenue The Inland Revenue was, until April 2005, a department of the British Government responsible for the collection of direct taxation, including income tax, national insurance contributions, capital gains tax, inheritance tax, corporation t ...

and Customs & Excise to form the new department. She was appointed permanent secretary at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) in November 2005. She replaced David Normington as permanent secretary at the Home Office in January 2011. In November 2012, she stepped down from her role at the Home Office to become director general at the

National Trust The National Trust, formally the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, is a charity and membership organisation for heritage conservation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, there is a separate and ...

. In April 2018, Ghosh left that role to become

, succeeding

Drummond Bone Sir James Drummond Bone, FRSE, FRSA (born 11 July 1947), is a Byron scholar and was Master of Balliol College at the University of Oxford until April 2018. He previously served as Vice-Chancellor of the University of Liverpool from 2002 to 20 ...

Board memberships

Ghosh was a board member of the National School for Government, and a committee member and former chair of the Blackfriars Overseas Aid Trust, based in Oxford. She was elected a

Rhodes Trust Rhodes House is a building part of the University of Oxford in England. It is located on South Parks Road in central Oxford, and was built in memory of Cecil Rhodes, an alumnus of the university and a major benefactor. It is listed Grade II* ...

ee in 2011.

Honours

She was appointed

Dame Commander of the Order of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I of Great Britain, George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate medieval ceremony for appointing a knight, which involved Bathing#Medieval ...

(DCB) in the Queen's Birthday Honours list in June 2008. In 2010, ''

The Tablet ''The Tablet'' is a Catholic international weekly review published in London. Brendan Walsh, previously literary editor and then acting editor, was appointed editor in July 2017. History ''The Tablet'' was launched in 1840 by a Quaker convert ...

'' named her as one of Britain's most influential Roman Catholics.

Personal life

In 1979, she married Peter Ghosh, an associate professor of Modern History at Oxford, who has, since 1982, been Jean Duffield Fellow and Tutor in Modern History at St Anne's College, Oxford. They have a son, William, and a daughter, Olivia.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ghosh, Helen 1956 births Living people Alumni of Hertford College, Oxford Alumni of St Hugh's College, Oxford British civil servants British Roman Catholics Dames Commander of the Order of the Bath Civil servants in the Department of the Environment Civil servants in the Cabinet Office Civil servants in the Department for the Environment, Transport and the Regions Civil servants in the Department for Work and Pensions Fellows of St Hugh's College, Oxford People from Farnborough, Hampshire Permanent Under-Secretaries of State for the Home Department Permanent Under-Secretaries of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Private secretaries in the British Civil Service People educated at Farnborough Hill National Trust people Rhodes Trustees