Sir David Radford Serpell, KCB, CMG, OBE (10 November 1911 – 28 July 2008) was a British civil servant. Born in

Plymouth Plymouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Devon, South West England. It is located on Devon's south coast between the rivers River Plym, Plym and River Tamar, Tamar, about southwest of Exeter and ...

on 10 November 1911, Serpell was the son of a solicitor. He attended Plymouth College and

Exeter College, Oxford Exeter College (in full: The Rector and Scholars of Exeter College in the University of Oxford) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England, and the fourth-oldest college of the university. The college was founde ...

, and then completed a diploma at the

University of Toulouse The University of Toulouse (, ) is a community of universities and establishments ( ComUE) based in Toulouse, France. Originally it was established in 1229, making it one of the earliest universities to emerge in Europe. Suppressed during the ...

. Following further studies at

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York, United States. It was established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church but has been nonsectarian since 1920 ...

, he was a fellow at

Tufts University Tufts University is a private research university in Medford and Somerville, Massachusetts, United States, with additional facilities in Boston and Grafton, as well as Talloires, France. Tufts also has several Doctor of Physical Therapy p ...

. He joined HM Civil Service in 1937, moving to the Ministry of Food in 1939, the Ministry of Fuel and Power in 1942, and then

HM Treasury His Majesty's Treasury (HM Treasury or HMT), and informally referred to as the Treasury, is the Government of the United Kingdom’s economic and finance ministry. The Treasury is responsible for public spending, financial services policy, Tax ...

in 1945. He became an under-secretary in 1954 and, on moving to the

Ministry of Transport A ministry of transport or transportation is a ministry responsible for transportation within a country. It usually is administered by the ''minister for transport''. The term is also sometimes applied to the departments or other government a ...

, became a deputy secretary in 1960 and oversaw inland transport. In 1963, he was appointed Second Secretary at the

Board of Trade The Board of Trade is a British government body concerned with commerce and industry, currently within the Department for Business and Trade. Its full title is The Lords of the Committee of the Privy Council appointed for the consideration of ...

and was made its Second

Permanent Secretary A permanent secretary is the most senior Civil Service (United Kingdom), civil servant of a department or Ministry (government department), ministry charged with running the department or ministry's day-to-day activities. Permanent secretaries are ...

in 1966. In 1968, he was briefly Second Secretary at the Treasury, before he served as Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Transport from 1968 to 1970, overseeing railway reforms and the implementation of the Transport Act 1968. When the ministry was merged into the Department for the Environment in 1970, he was appointed its Permanent Secretary, serving until 1972.Terry Gourvish
"Serpell, Sir David Radford"
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The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography ''The'' is a grammatical Article (grammar), article in English language, English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the ...

'' (online ed.,

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the publishing house of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world. Its first book was printed in Oxford in 1478, with the Press officially granted the legal right to print books ...

, 2013)."Serpell, Sir David Radford"
''

Who Was Who ''Who's Who'' is a reference work. It has been published annually in the form of a hardback book since 1849, and has been published online since 1999. It has also been published on CD-ROM. It lists, and gives information on, people from around ...

'' (online ed.,

, 1 December 2007). Retrieved 14 April 2025. After leaving the civil service, he was on the board of

British Rail British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. Originally a trading brand of the Railway Executive of the British Transport Comm ...

(from 1974 to 1982) and then carried out his ''Review of Railway Finances'', known as the Serpell Report and published in 1983. This was highly controversial, but many of his recommendations about operating and engineering would be implemented later in the 1980s. In the meantime, he had also chaired the Nature Conservancy Council (from 1973 to 1977) and served on the boards of several public bodies. He died on 28 July 2008."Sir David Serpell", ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'' (London), 7 August 2008, p. 55. .

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Serpell, David 1911 births 2008 deaths British civil servants People educated at Plymouth College Alumni of Exeter College, Oxford University of Toulouse alumni Syracuse University alumni Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George Officers of the Order of the British Empire British expatriates in France British expatriates in the United States