Covid campaigners criticise Wormald’s promotion to Civil Service top job

Health department chief Sir Chris Wormald’s appointment as the UK’s top civil servant is “unbelievably frustrating and worrisome”, Covid-19 victims’ campaigners said.

Sir Chris was appointed as the new Cabinet Secretary by Sir Keir Starmer and will replace Simon Case, who is stepping down on health grounds after four years in the role.

Sir Keir said Sir Chris will bring a “wealth of experience to this role at a critical moment in the work of change this new Government has begun”, adding “nothing less than the complete rewiring of the British state” is required.

But the Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice Group said Sir Chris’ appointment could mean “those in charge don’t take the failures during the pandemic seriously enough”.

The decision to promote Sir Chris, permanent secretary of the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), comes despite Sir Keir’s own assessment of the NHS as “broken” and “on its face”.

These will include a focus on reforming Whitehall, spearheaded by the Cabinet Secretary and members of the Cabinet, in a bid to ensure departments are geared towards the delivery of Labour’s missions, Number 10 has said.

This focus will also influence decisions for next year’s spending review, it has been suggested.

Sir Keir said: “To change this country, we must change the way government serves this country. That is what mission-led government will do.

“From breaking down silos across government to harnessing the incredible potential of technology and innovation, it will require nothing less than the complete rewiring of the British state to deliver bold and ambitious long-term reform.

“Delivering this scale of change will require exceptional Civil Service leadership. There could be no-one better placed to drive forward our plan for change than Chris, and I look forward to working with him as we fulfil the mandate of this new Government, improving the lives of working people and strengthening our country with a decade of national renewal.”

“So I look forward to working with leaders across Government, to ensure that the Civil Service has the skills they need to deliver across the breadth of the country.”

But Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice UK’s Barbara Herbert said: “It is unbelievably frustrating and worrisome to see the Government appoint Sir Christopher Wormald to the most senior civil service position in the UK, given his role at the head of the DHSC at a time when the NHS became completely overwhelmed, healthcare workers were sent to work without adequate PPE and lied to about it, and the UK suffered the second highest death toll in Western Europe.

“Time and again Christopher Wormald has refused in the UK Covid Inquiry to accept failures on behalf of the DHSC, despite irrefutable evidence to the contrary, backed up by the experiences of everyone in the UK during the pandemic.

“Christopher Wormald failed to prepare the DHSC for the pandemic, despite a pandemic being entirely foreseeable. Now he has been given responsibility for the crisis preparedness across the Government.

“Either those in charge don’t take the failures during the pandemic seriously enough, or they fail to see the importance of preparedness and resilience ahead of the next crisis.”

After moving in 2006 to what was then the Department for Communities and Local Government, where he was promoted to become director general of local government and regeneration, he joined the Cabinet Office as head of economic and domestic affairs secretariat in 2009.

Following the 2010 general election, Sir Chris became head of the deputy prime minister’s office, working alongside Nick Clegg.

He returned to the Department for Education in 2012 as permanent secretary before being appointed to his current role at the Department of Health and Social Care in 2016.

He has worked under seven health secretaries at the department.

Downing Street rejected the criticism of his appointment, with the Prime Minister’s official spokesman telling reporters: “He oversaw the UK’s health response to an unprecedented global health crisis, including managing, managing the country out of the pandemic.”