Jeremy Heywood, Lord Heywood of Whitehall, died this morning. Lord Heywood was until recently the Cabinet Secretary and Head of the Civil Service, retiring on 24 October 2018.

Prime Minister Theresa May said:

This is extremely sad news and all of my thoughts are with Jeremy’s family and friends.

The many retirement tributes paid to Jeremy from across the political spectrum in recent weeks demonstrated his extraordinary talent supporting and advising Prime Ministers and Ministers, and leading the Civil Service with distinction.

He worked tirelessly to serve our country in the finest traditions of the Civil Service and he is a huge loss to British public life.

I will always be grateful for the support which he gave me personally and will remember his achievements across his career as we regret that he did not have the chance to offer his talents for longer in retirement.

Jeremy will be sorely missed and I send my deepest condolences to Suzanne and the children and to all his family and many friends.

Sir Mark Sedwill, Lord Heywood’s successor as Cabinet Secretary and Head of the Civil Service, said:

Jeremy made an immense contribution to public life, serving four Prime Ministers with distinction. He joined the Civil Service in 1983, advising and supporting governments through some of the most challenging episodes of the last 30 years. Jeremy was the exemplary public servant.

We will miss him more than we can say, and will be the poorer without his advice, leadership and extraordinary insight. He set the highest standards and challenged us to meet them. Jeremy was always looking to move difficult problems forward, restlessly confident to deliver a better way. He was a champion of innovation and embraced change while consolidating and protecting the best of history. He promoted a diverse and inclusive Civil Service, fit to meet the digital, commercial and policy challenges of the future.

Jeremy also considered it a privilege to lead the hundreds of thousands of civil servants up and down the country, and across the world, who work day after day to make people’s lives better.

We offer our condolences and best wishes to Jeremy’s wife Suzanne, his three children, the rest of his family and their friends.

Notes

Lord Heywood was appointed Cabinet Secretary in January 2012 and Head of the Civil Service in September 2014. Prior to that, he was Permanent Secretary at Number 10 and held a range of senior roles including Principal Private Secretary to the Prime Minister, Head of Corporate and Management Change at HM Treasury, and Principal Private Secretary to Chancellors Norman Lamont and Kenneth Clarke. He also spent time at the International Monetary Fund and at Morgan Stanley. Lord Heywood’s first job in the Civil Service was as an Economic Adviser at the Health and Safety Executive. Lord Heywood retired as Cabinet Secretary and Head of the Civil Service on 24 October 2018. He died on 4 November aged 56.

The money will be used to provide training for teachers on how to spot early signs of bullying and how to intervene appropriately. It will also be used to provide resources to support teachers in delivering lessons on LGBT issues to ensure all pupils feel accepted and included.

The Government Equalities Office has already delivered the anti-bullying programme in 1,200 schools in England – ahead of its March deadline – and is now inviting voluntary and charitable organisations to bid for £1 million of further grant funding to roll out the programme in more schools.

A further £1 million will also be available for organisations to improve LGBT people’s health and social care. The LGBT Survey found that at least 16% of survey respondents who accessed or tried to access healthcare services in the last year had a negative experience because of their sexual orientation, and over half of those surveyed who accessed or tried to access mental health services said they had to wait too long.

Minister for Women and Equalities Penny Mordaunt said:

“Everyone in this country should feel safe and happy to be who they are, to love who they love, and to live their lives without judgement or fear.

“That’s why this government is stepping up its work to tackle bullying in schools, to protect more children and to stop hatred from festering and growing into discrimination in adulthood.

“The aim of our Action Plan is that everyone can live safe, happy and healthy lives where they can be themselves without fear of discrimination.”

Today, Ms Mordaunt also announced:

• A new fund of £600,000 will also be available to local community groups, through a new LGBT Sector and Community Development Scheme to help them engage LGBT people in their area. Alongside this, these organisations will receive training and development to help them grow, mature and become more sustainable over time.

• An LGBT Advisory Panel to advise the Government on policy, act as a sounding board, and provide evidence on the experiences of LGBT people. Stonewall, the LGBT Consortium and the LGBT Foundation have already been appointed to the panel given their longstanding, wide-ranging work on LGBT equality. A further nine members will be recruited through an open process that launches this week.

The LGBT Action Plan, launched in July 2018, made 75 commitments to tackle discrimination and improve the lives of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people in the UK. It was published alongside the results of the largest national survey of LGBT people ever undertaken. The survey, which had over 108,000 respondents, shows LGBT people are experiencing prejudice on a daily basis.

NOTES TO EDITORS:

The LGBT survey was launched in July 2017.

The LGBT Action Plan can be found here

The Advisory Panel recruitment will launch this Sunday 4 November.

The grant funding will launch during the week of Monday 5 November.

The Minister for Women and Equalities is appointing a LGBT Advisory Panel to advise the Government on its policies concerning LGBT+ people.

The Panel will act as a sounding board, providing practical advice to the Minister on policy decisions and publications, collecting and presenting evidence on the experiences of LGBT+ people and acting as a link between Government and civil society.

The panel will help the Government take forward the commitments set out in the 2018 LGBT Action Plan. Further detail can be found in the document entitled LBGT Advisory Panel – Terms of Reference.

We are seeking to appoint 9 members through an open competition. Successful applicants will be expected to spend up to 2 days a month on panel work and to attend quarterly meetings.

An additional 3 members will be directly appointed from Stonewall, the LGBT Foundation and the LGBT Consortium, so as to represent the breadth of the LGBT voluntary sector.

Please provide:

• a CV (two sides of A4 maximum) setting out your career history, achievements and any existing public appointments or offices held.

• a personal statement (two sides of A4 maximum) explaining how you consider your personal skills, qualities and experiences provide evidence for your suitability for the role. You should make reference to the essential criteria specified in the LGBT Advisory Panel – Description of the Application Process document.

• completed versions of the declaration of interest and diversity monitoring forms found in the LGBT Advisory Panel – Additional Forms document

The application process closes at midday on Wednesday 21 November.

Interviews will take place in London in the weeks commencing Monday 3 and Monday 10 December.

For full information on the application process, please see the document entitled LGBT Advisory Panel – Description of the Application Process.