Kelly appointed as new DfT Permanent Secretary

This from the DfT...

Bernadette Kelly has been appointed as the new Permanent Secretary at the Department for Transport. This follows Philip Rutnam’s recent move to the Home Office which was announced in February. The appointment has been made by the Cabinet Secretary with the approval of the Prime Minister and the Secretary of State for Transport.

A win for the continuity candidate...

McLoughlin & Rutnam in front of TSC today

This from the Transport Select Committee...

ORAL EVIDENCE – WEST COAST MAIN LINE FRANCHISE 

The Transport Select Committee will call the Secretary of State for Transport, Rt Hon Patrick McLoughlin MP, and the Permanent Secretary at the Department for Transport, Philip Rutnam, to give oral evidence on the cancellation of the competition to run the West Coast Main Line franchise.  

Wednesday 31 October at 2.45 pm

Location:  Grimond Room, Portcullis House

Announcing the session Tranport Committee Chair Louise Ellman MP said:

“It is astonishing that the Government has had to cancel the West Coast Main Line franchise competition and delay other competitions. Just last month the Secretary of State told us that he was content with how the Department for Transport had handled the West Coast Main Line competition and that Virgin’s challenge to the outcome would be defended robustly. 

“I expect the Department’s review of what went wrong to be available by the end of this month and we will want to examine that very carefully. We will also want to know how much this episode has cost the taxpayer, what lessons will be learnt, and what will be the wider implications for franchising. In addition, I expect the Committee to look closely at the Government’s review of franchising when it is published at the end of this year."

ENDS

You can view the session live here.

Rutman named as new PS at DfT

So a big Eye welcome to Philip Rutnam, who has been appointed the new Permanent Secretary at the DfT.

Rutman is currently Director General Business and Skills at BIS and will take up his new post in Marsham Street on 11th April 2012.

According to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills website:

Philip Rutnam was appointed Director General, Business and Skills in December 2010. Prior to this he had been Director General, Business, since March 2009.

Philip was previously at Ofcom where he was a Partner and then Board Member. He helped to establish Ofcom as an organisation and then to lead its work on competition, economic regulation and use of the radio spectrum.

A former senior Treasury official, Philip Rutnam's career also includes working in corporate finance at Morgan Stanley in Hong Kong, a period as Private Secretary to the Financial Secretary, and responsibility for the Treasury's interest in business and enterprise. He also previously represented the UK at the European Investment Bank.

In light of the Command Paper's terse dismissal of Open Access competition, Eye is unsure what use his Ofcom experience will be...

UPDATE: This from Sir Humphrey Beeching...

I'm pleased to see that Lucy Chadwick has also been named the new Director-General of Major Projects and London.

Bobby Devereux and I both had her marked out for great things, and of course she covered the role just a year ago.

With everyone at the Department playing musical chairs, I look forward to hearing where my old friend Peter Strachan ends up.

UPDATE: This from Minster Benn...

Has Sir Humphrey been at the dishwater again?

Ms Chadwick is not taking on Mr Strachan's job.

She will be taking up the post of DG International, Strategy and Environmental.

If that isn't an Oxymoron.

Hard times for the new Permanent Secretary?

Telegrammed by Leo Pink
According to the indefatigable Whitehall winer-and-diner Sue Cameron, writing in the Financial Times, Ms Lin Homer's move from the UK Border Agency to be the new Permanent Secretary at Transport will involve some sacrifice.

Her pay scale at the Agency was £205,000-£209,999.

At Transport it will be a mere £160,000-£164,999.

That should make for some interesting insights when the subject of Network Rail bonuses arise.

Given that conventional wisdom has it that Network Rail's Directors need the prospect of doubling their salaries to get out of bed in the morning and do the job they are paid for, presumably Ms Homer will be motivated be resentment rather than greed.

Or, dare one hope, a good old fashioned 'public service' ethos?

UPDATE: This from the Velopodist...

If I might apply a little logic to the question of Lin Homer's pay, I guess the proof of whether her pay package has been successful is how well the UK Border Agency has run and how well the DfT runs after she takes over.

Looking at how removals of asylum seekers and other sensitive issues have been handled under her watch at the Border Agency, one might ponder whether a more imaginative, performance-oriented pay policy might have incentivised senior staff to get the mess sorted out more quickly?

Heaven help us, meanwhile, if the pay cut leads her to make any less effort as she tries to clean out the Augean stables she'll find at the DfT...