Jonathan Slater (born 29 November 1961) is a former high ranking British

civil servant The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil servants hired on professional merit rather than appointed or elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leaders ...

. From May 2016, he was

Permanent Secretary A permanent secretary (also known as a principal secretary) is the most senior civil servant of a department or ministry charged with running the department or ministry's day-to-day activities. Permanent secretaries are the non-political civil s ...

of the

Department for Education The Department for Education (DfE) is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for child protection, child services, education (compulsory, further and higher education), apprenticeships and wider skills in England. A Departmen ...

until his abrupt dismissal on 26 August 2020 following a controversy over national school examination grades.

Career

Slater entered

Civil Service The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil servants hired on professional merit rather than appointed or elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leaders ...

in 2001 joining the Cabinet Office, having previously worked for the

London Borough of Islington The London Borough of Islington ( ) is a London borough in Inner London. Whilst the majority of the district is located in north London, the borough also includes a significant area to the south which forms part of central London. Islington ha ...

. After four years there, he moved to the Prime Minister's Delivery Unit at

Number 10 Policy Unit The Number 10 Policy Unit is a body of policymakers based in 10 Downing Street, providing policy advice directly to the British Prime Minister. Originally set up to support Harold Wilson in 1974, it has gone through a series of guises to suit th ...

in 2005, working on NHS reform and the capability review programme. In 2006, he transferred to the

Ministry of Justice A Ministry of Justice is a common type of government department that serves as a justice ministry. Lists of current ministries of justice Named "Ministry" * Ministry of Justice (Abkhazia) * Ministry of Justice (Afghanistan) * Ministry of Just ...

, working in the National Offender Management Service as its Director of Performance & Improvement, and then in 2008 as Chief Executive of the Office for Criminal Justice Reform, before being promoted in 2009 to Director-General, Transformation. In July 2011, Slater moved to the

Ministry of Defence {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in state ...

as its Director-General, Transformation and Corporate Strategy, encouraged by his former Permanent Secretary

Ursula Brennan Dame Ursula Brennan (born 28 October 1952) is a retired British civil servant and a former Permanent Secretary at the United Kingdom's Ministry of Justice where she was also the Clerk of the Crown in Chancery. Since 1975, Brennan has worked for ...

. His position was subsequently changed to Director-General, Head Office and Commissioning Services. In October 2015, Slater was appointed head of the Economic and Domestic Secretariat at the Cabinet Office, replacing Melanie Dawes. Seven months later he was again promoted to Permanent Secretary of the

, succeeding Chris Wormald who moved to the then-

Department of Health A health department or health ministry is a part of government which focuses on issues related to the general health of the citizenry. Subnational entities, such as states, counties and cities, often also operate a health department of their o ...

. In August 2020, the prime minister concluded that there was "a need for fresh official leadership” and Slater announced he was stepping down with effect from 1 September. The general secretary of the FDA union, Dave Penman, attacked the sacking in the following terms": "If it wasn't clear before, then it certainly is now - this administration will throw civil service leaders under a bus without a moment's hesitation to shield ministers from any kind of accountability." Slater was the fifth top civil servant to be sacked in as many months.

References

Offices held

Living people 1961 births British civil servants Civil servants in the Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom) Civil servants in the Cabinet Office Civil servants in the Department of Education (United Kingdom) British Permanent Secretaries Permanent Under-Secretaries of State for Education and Skills {{UK-bio-stub

Career

See also

References

Offices held