Paul Richard Charles Gray, (born 2 August 1948) is a British former civil servant who was chairman of

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until he resigned on 20 November 2007.

Early career

Paul Gray joined the Civil Service in 1969 as an

economist An economist is a professional and practitioner in the social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy. Within this field there are ...

HM Treasury His Majesty's Treasury (HM Treasury), occasionally referred to as the Exchequer, or more informally the Treasury, is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for developing and executing the government's public finance policy and ...

. During his time there he variously worked on agriculture, industry, and employment issues, and co-ordinated the Public Expenditure Survey process. Except for two years working for Booker McConnell Ltd in the late 1970s as a

corporate A corporation is an organization—usually a group of people or a company—authorized by the state to act as a single entity (a legal entity recognized by private and public law "born out of statute"; a legal person in legal context) and r ...

planner, he remained at the Treasury until 1988, when he was appointed

private secretary A private secretary (PS) is a civil servant in a governmental department or ministry, responsible to a secretary of state or minister; or a public servant in a royal household, responsible to a member of the royal family. The role exists in ...

for economic affairs to the

prime minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...

Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. She was the first female British prime ...

. After two years, Gray returned to the Treasury in 1990, where he worked on

monetary policy Monetary policy is the policy adopted by the monetary authority of a nation to control either the interest rate payable for very short-term borrowing (borrowing by banks from each other to meet their short-term needs) or the money supply, often a ...

, serving as a member of the EU Monetary Committee. From 1995 to 1998 he was director of budget and public finances, taking overall responsibility for the Finance Bill process.

Department for Work and Pensions

Gray transferred to the

Department of Social Security The Department of Social Security (DSS) was a governmental agency in the United Kingdom from 1988 to 2001. The old abbreviation is still often used informally. Advertisements for rented accommodation used to describe prospective tenants who wou ...

(DSS) in 1998 as group director and head of policy. He played a major role in forming 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 ...

(DWP), a department created by merging the DSS, the Employment Service, and parts of the former Department for Education and Skills. He later became Second Permanent Secretary and managing director, pensions and

disability Disability is the experience of any condition that makes it more difficult for a person to do certain activities or have equitable access within a given society. Disabilities may be cognitive, developmental, intellectual, mental, physical, ...

. Whilst at the DSS he was appointed to be a Companion 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 ...

in the Birthday Honours List, 2000.

HM Revenue and Customs

In September 2004, Gray was appointed deputy chairman of both 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

HM Customs and Excise HM Customs and Excise (properly known as Her Majesty's Customs and Excise at the time of its dissolution) was a department of the British Government formed in 1909 by the merger of HM Customs and HM Excise; its primary responsibility was t ...

, as those organisations prepared to merge following the O'Donnell Review. He was subsequently appointed as deputy chairman of

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

. On 1 September 2006 Paul Gray was appointed acting chairman of HMRC, following the resignation of Sir David Varney (who moved to the Treasury). His position was confirmed as permanent in February 2007, until his resignation on 20 November 2007 following the loss of 25 million child benefit records.

Sources

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gray, Paul Living people Members of HM Government Economic Service Civil servants in HM Treasury British civil servants Civil servants in the Department of Social Security Private secretaries in the British Civil Service Second Permanent Under-Secretaries of State for Work and Pensions Chairmen of HM Revenue and Customs Companions of the Order of the Bath 1948 births