Sir Joseph Grant Pilling, KCB (born 8 July 1945) is a retired British civil servant. Joseph Grant Pilling was born on 8 July 1945 to Fred and Eva Pilling. He was educated at Rochdale Grammar School,

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public university, public research university in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of George IV of the United Kingdom, King George IV ...

, and

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

. Pilling served as the director-general of the Prison Service from 1991 to 1993, and then Director of Resources and Services in the

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 ...

, before being appointed as

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 ...

of the

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 ...

in 1997, where he served until 2005 when he retired. In 2009, he was appointed by the

Home Secretary The secretary of state for the Home Department, more commonly known as the home secretary, is a senior minister of the Crown in the Government of the United Kingdom and the head of the Home Office. The position is a Great Office of State, maki ...

as the UK's first and only

Identity Commissioner The Identity Commissioner (officially known as the National Identity Scheme Commissioner) was an independent regulator in the United Kingdom appointed under the National identity card (United Kingdom), Identity Cards Act 2006 based in London. F ...

, a role having independent oversight of the National Identity Service

government database A government database collects information for various reasons, including climate monitoring, securities law compliance, geological surveys, patent applications and grants, surveillance, national security, border control, law enforcement, public he ...

(previously known as National Identity Scheme) and its mission of recording, cataloguing and processing the personal details of everyone in the UK. He took office on 1 October 2009. In 2012 and 2013, Pilling chaired the

House of Bishops The House of Bishops is the third House in a General Synod of some Anglican churches and the second house in the General Convention of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America.

of the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

Working Group on Human Sexuality. The group was commissioned by the House of Bishops in January 2012. It was composed of four bishops and was chaired by Pilling. In November 2013, the group submitted its report to the archbishops of Canterbury and York who published it. The archbishops recognised Pilling's comment that "disagreements have been explored in the warmth of a shared faith".Pilling Report Published.
/ref> He is married to Ann, Lady Pilling, an author, and 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 ...

(KCB) in the 2001 Birthday Honours, having previously been a

Companion of the Order of the Bath Companion may refer to: Relationships Currently * Any of several interpersonal relationships such as friend or acquaintance * A domestic partner, akin to a spouse * Sober companion, an addiction treatment coach * Companion (caregiving), a caregi ...

(CB). He is a member of the Athenaeum Club.

References

1945 births Living people Alumni of King's College London Harvard University alumni Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath Permanent Under-Secretaries of State for Northern Ireland Civil servants in the Home Office Civil servants in the Ministry of Health (United Kingdom) Human rights in the United Kingdom Fellows of King's College London {{UK-gov-bio-stub