90/98
3 June 1998
PERMANENT SECRETARY TO THE TREASURY
Andrew Turnbull is to be the new Permanent Secretary to the Treasury. He will take over from Sir Terence Burns who will be retiring at the end of June.
It was also announced today that the Queen has been pleased to approve a life peerage upon Sir Terence Burns.
Andrew Turnbull who moves from his current post of Permanent Secretary of the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions, said:
"I am delighted to be able to return to the Treasury. It has of course moved on significantly since I left four years ago in its structure and its objectives. What is unchanged, however, is the importance of its role at the centre of government. I look forward to working with many old friends, and the new arrivals too, in carrying forward its huge agenda."
The Chancellor of the Exchequer, Gordon Brown said:
"I regard Terry Burns as one of our country's outstanding post-war economists and public servants, who has made an enormous contribution to public policy and public administration in nearly twenty years at the heart of the Treasury.
"And while I fully understand that after carrying the responsibilities of Permanent Secretary for seven years he now wishes to seek a fresh challenge, I know that the Treasury - and Chancellors of both parties - have reason to be grateful for the expertise, wisdom and quiet resilience he has brought to the job of Permanent Secretary.
"In the last year, in particular, I am grateful to him for so expertly managing the transition to a new Government and, among his many other successes, in guiding us through the major reform of monetary policy that has brought the independence of the Bank of England.
"I am pleased to count Terry not only as an adviser, but as a friend, and I hope that as a member of the House of Lords he may be prepared to be called upon for his advice in future years."
In announcing his retirement, Terry Burns said:
"After more than 18 highly enjoyable and fulfilling years in the Treasury, 7 as Permanent Secretary, and having managed the smooth transition to a new Government, I have decided that now is the right time to consider a fresh challenge and a different mix of responsibilities in the next period of my working life.
"It has been an enormous privilege to have worked at the heart of the Treasury with so many able and dedicated people and to have played a part in the successful transformation of the conduct of economic policy.
"Andrew Turnbull and I have worked closely as colleagues. I am delighted that he is to succeed me."
NOTES FOR EDITORS
1. The formal announcement of this and other Permanent Secretary moves was announced today through a Press Release from No 10 Downing Street.
2. Terry Burns, who is 54, was appointed Permanent Secretary to the Treasury in May 1991. Educated at Houghton-le-Spring Grammar School and Manchester University, he joined the Treasury in 1980 as Chief Economic adviser and Head of the Government Economic Service. His early career was as an academic at the London Business School where he finished as Professor of Economics and Director of the LBS Centre for Economic Forecasting.
3. Andrew Turnbull, who is 53, was educated at Enfield Grammar School and Christ's College Cambridge. After working as an economist for the Government of Zambia, he joined the Treasury as an assistant principal in 1970. In 1983 he was appointed Private Secretary to the Prime Minister. He was promoted to Under Secretary in 1985 on his return to the Treasury, where he headed the General Expenditure Policy Group. He was appointed Principal Private Secretary to the Prime Minister in 1988 and promoted to Deputy Secretary (Grade 2) in 1990. He returned to the Treasury as the Deputy Secretary, Public Finance. He became Second Permanent Secretary, Public Expenditure in the Treasury in 1993. He was appointed to his present post, in the then Department of the Environment, in May 1994.