Dame Melanie Henrietta Dawes (born 9 March 1966) is a British economist and administrator. In February 2020 she was appointed Chief Executive of

Ofcom The Office of Communications, commonly known as Ofcom, is the government-approved regulatory and competition authority for the broadcasting, internet, telecommunications and mail, postal industries of the United Kingdom. Ofcom has wide-rang ...

. She was previously the

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

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) is a ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It is responsible for housing, communities, and local government in England. It was established in May 2006 ...

, and before that worked at

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 ...

HM Revenue and Customs His Majesty's Revenue and Customs (commonly HM Revenue and Customs, or HMRC, and formerly Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs) is a department of the UK government responsible for the collection of taxes, the payment of some forms of stat ...

, and in the

Cabinet Office The Cabinet Office is a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It is responsible for supporting the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, prime minister and Cabinet ...

. She is a Trustee of the Patchwork Foundation, founded by Harris Bokhari.

Early life and education

Dawes was born on 9 March 1966. She was educated at Malvern Girls' College, then an all-girls

private school A private school or independent school is a school not administered or funded by the government, unlike a State school, public school. Private schools are schools that are not dependent upon national or local government to finance their fina ...

in Malvern,

Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Shropshire, Staffordshire, and the West Midlands (county), West ...

. She studied at

New College, Oxford New College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1379 by Bishop William of Wykeham in conjunction with Winchester College as New College's feeder school, New College was one of the first col ...

, 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 ...

(BA) degree. She then undertook postgraduate studies in economics at

Birkbeck College Birkbeck, University of London (formally Birkbeck College, University of London), is a public research university located in London, England, and a member institution of the University of London. Established in 1823 as the London Mechanics' ...

, London, graduating with a

Master of Science A Master of Science (; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree. In contrast to the Master of Arts degree, the Master of Science degree is typically granted for studies in sciences, engineering and medici ...

(MSc) degree.'DAWES, Melanie Henrietta', '' Who's Who 2017'', A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 2017; online edn, Oxford University Press, 2016; online edn, Nov 201
accessed 20 Oct 2017
/ref>

Career

Dawes joined the

Civil Service The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil service personnel hired rather than elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leadership. A civil service offic ...

in 1989. After two years at the Department for Transport, she spent 15 years at

, ending her time there in the role of Europe Director from 2002 to 2006. Then, from 2006 to 2011, she worked at

(HMRC). She was Director General for Business Tax at HMRC from November 2007, replacing Dave Hartnett. From October 2011 to 2015, she was Director General of the Economic and Domestic Secretariat in the

. On 1 March 2015 Dawes was appointed as the

of the

Department for Communities and Local Government The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) is a ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It is responsible for housing, communities, and local government in England. It was established in May 200 ...

, succeeding Sir Bob Kerslake. She was the first permanent secretary to be appointed under a new scheme in which the

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

has the final say in the recruitment process; the PM now chooses from a list created by the Civil Service Commissioners, rather than only having a veto over the Commissioners' preferred candidate. In 2015 Dawes was paid a salary of between £160,000 and £164,999 pa by DCLG, making her one of the 328 most highly paid people in the British public sector. On 12 February 2020, Dawes was named as the new Chief Executive of broadcasting, telecoms and postal services regulator

Other work

Dawes was Chair of the Alcohol Recovery Project from 2003 to 2005. She was a Member of the Council of ''

Which? ''Which?'' is a United Kingdom brand name that promotes informed consumer choice in the purchase of goods and services by testing products, highlighting inferior products or services, raising awareness of consumer rights, and offering indepen ...

'' between 2011 and 2015. She was the Civil Service Gender Champion from 2015 to 2019, when she was appointed as the overall Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Champion. She was a judge for the 2015 Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Awards. Dawes is a

trustee Trustee (or the holding of a trusteeship) is a legal term which, in its broadest sense, refers to anyone in a position of trust and so can refer to any individual who holds property, authority, or a position of trust or responsibility for the ...

of the Patchwork Foundation.

Personal life

In 1992, Dawes married Benedict Brogan. Together they have a daughter.

Honours

Dawes was appointed

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) in the 2013 Birthday Honours for "services to the Civil Service in the field of Economic Policy" and promoted to Dame Commander of the Order of the Bath (DCB) in the

2020 New Year Honours The 2020 New Year Honours are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebratio ...

for public service.

References

Offices held

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dawes, Melanie 1966 births Living people People educated at Malvern St James Alumni of New College, Oxford Alumni of Birkbeck, University of London British economists British civil servants British women economists 21st-century British women civil servants Civil servants in HM Treasury Civil servants in HM Revenue and Customs Civil servants in the Cabinet Office Dames Commander of the Order of the Bath