Helen Ghosh Explained

Dame Helen Ghosh
Office1:Master of Balliol College, Oxford
Term Start1:3 April 2018
Predecessor1:Sir James Drummond Bone
Office2:Director General of the National Trust
Term Start2:12 November 2012
Term End2:2 April 2018
1Blankname2:Chairman
1Namedata2:Sir Simon Jenkins
Tim Parker
Predecessor2:Dame Fiona Reynolds
Successor2:Hilary McGrady
Office3:Permanent Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department
Term Start3:1 January 2011
Term End3:November 2012
1Blankname3:Secretary of State
1Namedata3:Theresa May
Predecessor3:Sir David Normington
Office4:Permanent Under-Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Term Start4:7 November 2005
Term End4:31 December 2010
1Blankname4:Secretary of State
1Namedata4:Margaret Beckett
David Miliband
Hilary Benn
Caroline Spelman
Predecessor4:Sir Brian Bender
Successor4:Bronwyn Hill
Birth Name:Helen Frances Kirkby
Birth Date:21 February 1956
Birth Place:Farnborough, Hampshire, England
Nationality:British
Spouse:Peter Ghosh (m. 1979)
Relations:William Taylor Kirkby (father), civil service scientist
Eileen Marguerite Winifred Howe (mother), librarian
Children:Olivia Ghosh
Dr William Ghosh
Residence:King's Mound and the Master's Lodgings, Balliol College, Oxford (official residences of the Master of Balliol)
Alma Mater:St Hugh's College, Oxford
Hertford College, Oxford
Occupation:university college administrator
Profession:civil servant, charity administrator, university administrator

Dame Helen Frances Ghosh, (pronounced as //ɡəʊʃ//; ;[1] Kirkby; born 21 February 1956)[2] is a former British civil servant who has been Master of Balliol College, Oxford since 2018.[3] She was previously Director-General of the National Trust from November 2012 to April 2018.

From 1979 to 2012 she was a British civil servant. She was Permanent Secretary at the Home Office from January 2011 to November 2012, and prior to that was Permanent Secretary at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) from November 2005 to the end of 2010. On appointment at DEFRA, she was the only female permanent secretary to head a major department of the British Government.[4]

Early life and education

Ghosh was born Helen Frances Kirkby in Farnborough, Hampshire, in 1956, daughter of William Kirkby, a civil service scientist, and his wife, Eileen (née Howe), a librarian.[5] [6] [7] She was educated at Farnborough Hill, an all-girls private Catholic school.

She studied modern history at St Hugh's College, Oxford, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree in 1976.[8] She then undertook postgraduate study at Hertford College, Oxford, graduating with a Master of Letters (MLitt) in 1980; her thesis concerned the history of Italy in the 6th century.[9]

Career

Ghosh joined the Department of the Environment in 1979 as an administration trainee. From 1981 to 1983 she was assistant private secretary to Michael Heseltine, the Secretary of State for the Environment. She was private secretary to the Minister for Environment and Housing from 1986 to 1988, and was head of the Housing Policy and Home Ownership Team from 1992 to 1995.[10]

In July 1995 she joined the Cabinet Office on loan, as deputy director of the Efficiency Unit.[11] She left the post in May 1997 to become director of the London East and European Programmes at the Government Office for London.

Between May 1999 and November 1999, she was head of the New Deal for Communities Programme at the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions. She then joined the Department for Work and Pensions as director of the Children's Group.[10]

She rejoined the Cabinet Office in October 2001, as head of Central Secretariat,[12] and, in 2003, became director general for Corporate Services at HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC),[13] where she played an important part in the transformation programme merging the Inland Revenue and Customs & Excise to form the new department.[14] She was appointed permanent secretary at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) in November 2005.[15] [16] She replaced David Normington as permanent secretary at the Home Office in January 2011.[17]

In November 2012, she stepped down from her role at the Home Office to become director general at the National Trust.[18] [19] [20] In April 2018, Ghosh left that role to become Master of Balliol College, Oxford, succeeding Drummond Bone.[21] [22]

Board memberships

Ghosh was a board member of the National School for Government,[23] and a committee member and former chair of the Blackfriars Overseas Aid Trust, based in Oxford.[24] She was elected a Rhodes Trustee in 2011.[25]

Honours

She was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the Bath (DCB) in the Queen's Birthday Honours list in June 2008.[26] In 2010, The Tablet named her as one of Britain's most influential Roman Catholics.[27]

Personal life

In 1979,[28] she married Peter Ghosh, an associate professor of Modern History at Oxford, who has, since 1982, been Jean Duffield Fellow and Tutor in Modern History at St Anne's College, Oxford. They have a son, William, and a daughter, Olivia.[29] [30] [31]

Notes and References

  1. News: Moreton . Cole . Dame Helen Ghosh says: 'I believe the Government will talk to the National Trust' . https://web.archive.org/web/20130624052319/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/environment/conservation/9904257/Dame-Helen-Ghosh-says-I-believe-the-Government-will-talk-to-the-National-Trust.html . dead . 24 June 2013 . 22 March 2019 . The Telegraph . 3 March 2013.
  2. News: Civil service . . 14 January 2005 . 16 November 2020.
  3. Web site: Election of new Master . 18 July 2017 . 18 July 2017 . 13 July 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180713210709/https://www.balliol.ox.ac.uk/news/2017/july/election-of-new-master . dead .
  4. Web site: The gender agenda . Anna . Bawden . The Guardian . 21 March 2007 . 7 December 2010. .
  5. Web site: On the charm offensive. The Guardian. 1 March 2006 . 7 December 2010.
  6. Web site: Death Notices & Obituaries Eileen Kirkby . Hampshire Chronicle . 1 June 2017 . KIRKBY Eileen Died peacefully in St Catherine's View, Winchester on Friday 12th May aged 92. Much loved Wife of the late Bill, and devoted Mother to Paul, Patrick, Helen, Margaret and Irene. Will be much missed by them and her Grandchildren and Great-Grandchildren..
  7. p. 6 "Eileen Kirkby, Dame Helen Ghosh’s mother, made a beautiful centenary cake" and p. 31 "Eileen Kirkby (Howe) 1941"
  8. Web site: Ashton . James . Dame Helen Ghosh: Ex senior Home Office figure on using her skills to help the National Trust deal with climate change . Independent . 2 August 2021 . 12 July 2015 . Graduated with a BA in modern history from St Hugh’s College, Oxford in 1976 and then and MLitt from Hertford College, Oxford, writing on 6th-century Italian history..
  9. Web site: GHOSH, Dame Helen Frances. Who's Who 2014. A & C Black. 21 February 2015. November 2014.
  10. News: National Trust chief: 'we must focus on things that make a difference' . Anna . Bawden . . 29 April 2014 . 16 November 2020.
  11. News: Who is the National Trust's boss Dame Helen Ghosh? . Katie . Morley . . 4 April 2017 . 16 November 2020.
  12. Web site: Senior Appointment: Head of Central Secretariat . Cabinet Office . Cabinet Office . Government News Network . 30 October 2001 . https://web.archive.org/web/20070930165318/http://www.gnn.gov.uk/Content/Detail.asp?ReleaseID=49652&NewsAreaID=2&print=false . 30 September 2007.
  13. Web site: Inland Revenue Board Changes . 10 March 2003 . Inland Revenue . Ernst & Young LLP . https://web.archive.org/web/20071022162148/http://213.86.35.230/UKTaxLibrary/UK%2BTax%2BOther/Tax%2Badministration%2Band%2Benforcement%2Bpre-2006/Inland%2BRevenue%2BBoard%2BChanges.htm?NRMODE=Published . 22 October 2007.
  14. News: Dame Helen Ghosh: Ex senior Home Office figure on using her skills to help the National Trust deal with climate change . James . Ashton . . 12 July 2015 . 16 November 2020.
  15. New Permanent Secretary of Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs . http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20091112082458/http://www.number10.gov.uk/Page8304 . dead . 12 November 2009 . 13 October 2005 . Prime Minister's Office . 7 December 2010.
  16. https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld200506/ldhansrd/vo051219/text/51219w04.htm Written answers by Lord Bach to Parliamentary Questions asked by Baroness Byford
  17. Dame Helen Ghosh to become Home Office Permanent Secretary . Home Office . 6 December 2010 . 7 December 2010.
  18. News: Top civil servant Dame Helen Ghosh to leave the Home Office. 13 August 2012. BBC. 13 August 2012.
  19. Web site: Kennedy. Maev. National Trust appoints Dame Helen Ghosh as director general. The Guardian. 19 July 2017. 13 August 2012.
  20. Web site: Helen Ghosh takes over as National Trust Director-General. The National Trust. 12 November 2012 . https://archive.today/20121225210357/http://ntpressoffice.wordpress.com/2012/11/13/helen-ghosh-takes-over-as-national-trust-director-general/ . 25 December 2012 .
  21. Web site: Weale. Sally. Dame Helen Ghosh to leave National Trust for Balliol College, Oxford. The Guardian. 18 July 2017. 18 July 2017.
  22. Web site: Preston. Rob. National Trust director general quits for job at Oxford college. Civil Society Media. 18 July 2017. 18 July 2017.
  23. National School Becomes New Government Department . National School of Government . 21 December 2006 . 7 December 2010 . 4. The National School Board comprises: Sir Brian Bender (Chair), Permanent Secretary, Department of Trade and Industry : Sir John Elvidge, Permanent Secretary, Scottish Government : Helen Ghosh, Permanent Secretary, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs : .... . https://web.archive.org/web/20110719095654/http://www.nationalschool.gov.uk/news_events/stories/newgovernementdepartment.asp . 19 July 2011.
  24. Web site: 288585 – Blackfriars Overseas Trust . Charity Commission . 7 December 2010.
  25. Web site: Dame Helen Ghosh elected Rhodes Trustee. The Rhodes Trust. 12 June 2016. 12 March 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20160809005502/http://www.rhodesscholarshiptrust.com/news/dame-helen-ghosh-elected-rhodes-trustee. 9 August 2016. dead.
  26. News: The Queen's Birthday Honours. https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220509/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/the-queens-birthday-honours-anna-wintour-calzaghe-and-nyman-make-list-846944.html . 9 May 2022 . subscription . live. 14 June 2008. The Independent. 14 June 2008.
  27. Web site: The Tablet's Top 100 . 24 February 2013 . 11 September 2010 . The Tablet . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20160313083725/http://www.thetablet.co.uk/pdf/4283 . 13 March 2016.
  28. St Hugh's College Chronicle 1984-1985, no. 37, Oxford University Press, 1985, p. 42
  29. Web site: Mr Peter Ghosh Associate Professor of Modern History, Jean Duffield Fellow in Modern History . University of Oxford . 2 September 2021.
  30. News: Taylor. Jeremy. It's never too late to have your dream job. https://web.archive.org/web/20130419151006/http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/Magazine/a_life_in_the_day/article1199033.ece. dead. 19 April 2013. 24 February 2013. The Sunday Times. 27 January 2013.
  31. News: Boulton . Alison . Profile: Dame Helen Ghosh - 'I'm a huge fan of the train' . 2 September 2021 . Oxford Mail . 4 June 2015.

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