Sir Jonathan Andrew de Sievrac Stephens, KCB (born 8 February 1960) is a retired 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 ...

who was

Permanent Secretary A permanent secretary (also known as a principal 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 ...

at the Northern Ireland Office between 2014 and 2020, and the Permanent Secretary of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport between 2006 and 2013. On his retirement, he was replaced as Permanent Secretary of the Northern Ireland Office by Madeleine Alessandri.

Personal life

Stephens was born in 1960 in Bromley, Kent, the son of Prescot and Peggy (née Pike) Stephens. He was educated at Sevenoaks School, and

Christ Church, Oxford Christ Church ( la, Ædes Christi, the temple or house, '' ædēs'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, the college is uniqu ...

, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics. He and his wife,

Rev Rev or Rév may refer to: Abbreviations Rev. * Rev., an abbreviation for revolution, as in Revolutions per minute * Rev., an abbreviation for the religious style The Reverend * Rev., the abbreviation for Runtime Revolution, a development environ ...

Penny Stephens, whom he married in 1983, have two children, Benjamin and Eleanor.

Career

Stephens joined the

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 the Northern Ireland Office in 1983, being promoted through various grades before transferring to the

Cabinet Office The Cabinet Office is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for supporting the prime minister and Cabinet. It is composed of various units that support Cabinet committees and which co-ordinate the delivery of government objecti ...

as Director of Modernising Public Service in 2000. In 2001, he was seconded to HM Treasury where he rose to be managing director of Public Services 2004–06, replacing

Sir Nicholas Macpherson Nicholas Ian Macpherson, Baron Macpherson of Earl's Court, (born 14 July 1959) is a former senior British civil servant. He served as the Permanent Secretary to the Treasury from 2005 to 2016. Macpherson was Permanent Secretary to three Chan ...

. In 2006, Stephens was appointed Permanent Secretary of DCMS to replace Dame Sue Street on her retirement. During his time at the DCMS, he oversaw the organisation of major events, including

2012 Olympic Games The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

and

2012 Paralympic Games The 2012 Summer Paralympics, branded as the London 2012 Paralympic Games, were an international multi-sport parasports event held from 29 August to 9 September 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. They were the 14th Summer Paralympic Gam ...

in London, and the

Diamond Jubilee of Elizabeth II The year 2012 marked the Diamond Jubilee of Elizabeth II being the 60th anniversary of the accession of Queen Elizabeth II on 6 February 1952. The only diamond jubilee celebration for any of Elizabeth's predecessors was in 1897, for the 60th an ...

. From September 2013 to May 2014, Stephens worked as a reviewer at HM Treasury, and joined the Northern Ireland Office as

in June 2014. As of 2015, Stephens was paid a salary of between £155,000 and £159,999 by DCLG, making him one of the 328 most highly paid people in the British public sector at that time.

Public Accounts Committee

On 26 April 2012, Stephens appeared before the Public Accounts Committee at the House of Commons, where he was asked 10 times by Margaret Hodge MP about whether he knew that Adam Smith, a special adviser to Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt, was acting as a liaison between his department and media owner Rupert Murdoch. Stephens refused to disclose any information about his knowledge or authorisation of the role.

Honours

Stephens was appointed Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath in the

2013 Birthday Honours The 2013 Birthday Honours were appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours are awarded as part of ...

for public service, especially to the Olympic Games in London.

Offices held

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stephens, Jonathan 1960 births Living people People from Bromley People educated at Sevenoaks School Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford British civil servants Civil servants in HM Treasury Civil servants in the Northern Ireland Office Civil servants in the Cabinet Office Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath Permanent Under-Secretaries of State for Culture, Media and Sport Permanent Under-Secretaries of State for Northern Ireland