Sir John Laughlin Semple, KCB (born 10 August 1940) is a retired civil servant who was

Head of the Northern Ireland Civil Service There has been a Head of the Northern Ireland Civil Service (NICS) since Ernest Clark (governor), Sir Ernest Clark was appointed the first holder of that office in 1921. As of 2017 and according to the Executive Office (Northern Ireland), Executive ...

between 1997 and 2000.

Career

Semple was born on 10 August 1940, the son of James and Violet Semple. He attended

Campbell College, Belfast Campbell College located in Belfast, Northern Ireland and founded in 1894 comprises a preparatory school department (junior age) and a senior Northern Ireland 'Voluntary Grammar' school, the latter meaning, in terms of provision of education, a ...

, before studying at

Corpus Christi College, Cambridge Corpus Christi College (full name: "The College of Corpus Christi and the Blessed Virgin Mary", often shortened to "Corpus") is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. From the late 14th c ...

, graduating with a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

degree. He subsequently earned a BSc Economics from the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

."Semple, Sir John (Laughlin)"
''Who's Who'' (online edition, Oxford University Press, December 2017). Retrieved 3 January 2018. Semple joined the

Home Civil Service In the United Kingdom, the Civil Service is the permanent bureaucracy or secretariat of Crown employees that supports His Majesty's Government, the Scottish Government and the Welsh Government, which is led by a cabinet of ministers chosen b ...

as an Assistant Principal at the

Ministry of Aviation The Ministry of Aviation was a department of the United Kingdom government established in 1959. Its responsibilities included the regulation of civil aviation and the supply of military aircraft, which it took on from the Ministry of Supply. ...

in 1961. He moved to the

Northern Ireland Civil Service The Northern Ireland Civil Service (NICS; ; Ulster-Scots: ''Norlin Airlann Cïvil Sarvice'') is the permanent bureaucracy of employees that supports the Northern Ireland Executive, the devolved government of Northern Ireland. The NICS is one ...

the next year. In 1965, he became Deputy Principal of the Northern Ireland Ministry of Health and Social Services, and three years later became Principal at the

Ministry of Finance A ministry of finance is a ministry or other government agency in charge of government finance, fiscal policy, and financial regulation. It is headed by a finance minister, an executive or cabinet position . A ministry of finance's portfoli ...

. He held the same position at the Northern Ireland Ministry of Community Relations from 1970 to 1972, then served for five years as Assistant Secretary at the Northern Ireland Ministry of Development, before moving to 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, ...

. He was Under Secretary for Housing at the Department from 1979 to 1983, then Under Secretary (1983–88) and then Permanent Secretary (1988–97) at the

Department of Finance and Personnel The Department of Finance (DoF, , Ulster-Scots: ''Männystrie o Siller'') is a devolved Northern Ireland government department in the Northern Ireland Executive. The minister with overall responsibility for the department is the Minister for ...

. He became

in 1997 and retired in 2000, when he was appointed Knight Commander of the

Order of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by King George I of Great Britain, George I on 18 May 1725. Recipients of the Order are usually senior British Armed Forces, military officers or senior Civil Service ...

(having been appointed Companion in 1993). He was Second Permanent Under-Secretary of State at the United Kingdom's

Northern Ireland Office The Northern Ireland Office (NIO; , Ulster-Scots: ''Norlin Airlann Oaffis'') is a ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It is responsible for handling Northern Ireland affairs. The NIO is led by the Secretary of S ...

for the year 1998–99, and was Secretary to the Executive Committee of the

Northern Ireland Assembly The Northern Ireland Assembly (; ), often referred to by the metonym ''Stormont'', is the devolved unicameral legislature of Northern Ireland. It has power to legislate in a wide range of areas that are not explicitly reserved to the Parliam ...

the following year.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Semple, John 1940 births Civil servants from Northern Ireland Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath Alumni of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge Alumni of the University of London Living people Heads of the Northern Ireland Civil Service