Richard Heaton
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Richard Heaton CB |
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Richard Heaton
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Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Justice |
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Assumed office August 2015 |
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| Prime Minister |
David Cameron Theresa May |
| Preceded by | Ursula Brennan |
| Cabinet Office Permanent Secretary | |
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In office August 2012 – August 2015 |
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| Prime Minister | David Cameron |
| Preceded by | Ian Watmore |
| Succeeded by | John Manzoni |
| First Parliamentary Counsel | |
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In office February 2012 – 2015 |
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| Prime Minister | David Cameron |
| Preceded by | Stephen Laws |
| Succeeded by | Elizabeth Gardiner |
| Personal details | |
| Nationality | British |
| Alma mater |
Worcester College, Oxford Inns of Court School of Law |
Richard Heaton, CB is a barrister and senior British civil servant who has been the Permanent Secretary to the Ministry of Justice and Clerk of the Crown in Chancery since September 2015. He had previously served as Cabinet Office Permanent Secretary, and First Parliamentary Counsel.
Heaton studied at Worcester College, Oxford, taking a BA in Law.
Heaton worked as a barrister, after being called to the bar at Inner Temple in 1988. He joined the Government Legal Service in 1991 where he remained until moving to the Department for Constitutional Affairs in 2004 where he served as Director of Legal Services. He then went on to work as Head of law and governance at the Department for Work and Pensions from 2007-2009, and Director General for pensions and ageing society from 2009-2012.
In February 2012, Heaton became First Parliamentary Counsel, replacing the retiring Sir Stephen Laws. In August 2012, he was additionally appointed Cabinet Office Permanent Secretary, taking over from Ian Watmore, splitting his time between the two roles. In his role as First Parliamentary Counsel he launched the Good Law initiative, seeking to reduce complexity in legislation. In April 2014, he became Civil Service Race Champion.
On 2 July 2015, it was announced that Heaton would leave the Cabinet Office to take up the position of Permanent Secretary to the Ministry of Justice (formally, the Clerk of the Crown in Chancery), replacing Dame Ursula Brennan on her retirement. His Cabinet Office roles were split: as Permanent Secretary, he was replaced by John Manzoni; as First Parliamentary Counsel, Elizabeth Gardiner replaced him.
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