HM Treasury - Permanent Secretaries

Permanent Secretaries

The position of Permanent Secretary of HM Treasury is generally regarded as the second most influential in the British Civil Service; the last two incumbents have gone on to be Cabinet Secretary, the only post out-ranking it.

• Francis Mowatt (1894–1903)
• George Murray (1903–1911)
• John Bradbury (1913–1919)
• Robert Chalmers (1916–1919)
• Warren Fisher (1919–1939)
• Horace Wilson (1939–1942)
• Richard Hopkins (1942–1945)
• Edward Bridges (1945–1956)
• Roger Makins (1956–1959)
• Frank Lee (1960–1962)
• Norman Brook (1956–1963)
• Laurence Helsby (1963–1968)
• William Armstrong (1962–1968)
• Douglas Allen (1968–1974)
• Douglas Wass (1974–1983)
• Peter Middleton (1983–1991)
• Terence Burns (1991–1998)
• Andrew Turnbull (1998–2002)
• Gus O'Donnell (2002–2005)
• Sir Nicholas Macpherson (since 2005)

The Second Permanent Secretary is Tom Scholar, the managing director of the International and Finance division. With effect from June 2007, the post of Head of the Government Economic Service (GES) is held jointly by the Managing Director of Macroeconomic and Fiscal Policy in HM Treasury, Dave Ramsden, and Vicky Pryce, Chief Economist in the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills. The previous Head of the GES was Sir Nick Stern. Management support for GES members is provided by the Economists in Government team, which is located in HM Treasury's building.