Sue Owen

Sue Owen
CB
Permanent Secretary of the
Department for Culture, Media and Sport
Assumed office
1 October 2013
Prime Minister David Cameron
Minister Maria Miller (until 2014),
Sajid Javid (2014–2015),
John Whittingdale (since May 2015)
Preceded by Sir Jonathan Stephens
Personal details
Born Susan Jane Owen
(1955-06-03) 3 June 1955
Nationality British

Susan Jane Owen CB (born 3 June 1955) is a British civil servant, economist and former academic. She has served as the Permanent Secretary for the Department for Culture, Media and Sport since October 2013.[1][2][3]

Early life

She was educated at Lady Eleanor Holles School in Hampton, London. She received a degree in economics from Newnham College, Cambridge in 1976 and a Master of Science at Cardiff University in Wales in 1982.[4]

Career

Owen was an academic lecturer and researcher at Cardiff University and the London School of Economics, where she studied women in the labour market from 1979 until 1988.[5][2][1] Owen then joined HM Treasury as an economic adviser in 1989, before working on EU Co-ordination from 1995 to 1998.[2] She was then seconded to the Number 10 Policy Unit as the economic advisor on the Work/Family Balance Policy project,[2][1] followed by a three-year tour from 1999 to 2002 as the Foreign Office's Counsellor for economic affairs and head of the economics section at the British Embassy in Washington, D.C..[5]

In 2002, Owen returned to the Treasury as Director for EMU Policy, Euro Preparations and Debt Management. In 2006 she moved to the Department for International Development as their Director-General for Corporate Performance,[1] before briefly serving as their acting Permanent Secretary in 2008 between Sir Suma Chakrabarti and Dame Minouche Shafik.[2] She then left for Department for Work and Pensions as their Director-General for Welfare and Wellbeing (from 2011, for Strategy), where she served from 2009 until 2013.[1][5]

In October 2013, Owen replaced Sir Jonathan Stephens as Permanent Secretary for the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS). Owen took over the department following the successful 2012 Olympics and Paralympic Games held in London, and her role as head of the DCMS department also includes ensuring a long-term legacy of those Games.[1] As of 2015, Owen was paid a salary of between £155,000 and £159,999 by DCLG, making her one of the 328 most highly paid people in the British public sector at that time.[6]

As Permanent Secretary, Owen oversees civil servants in the fields of the arts, sport, tourism, creative industries and media. Her role also includes promoting equality and diversity in society, including some matters related to the legalisation of same-sex marriage. Owen is also an ex officio member of the Arts and Media committee of the Honours Committee, which nominates people for the Queen's Birthday and New Year Honours.[7]

In July 2014, Owen became the LGB&T Champion for Her Majesty's Civil Service, which is a voluntary role designed to serve as a figurehead for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender government employees.[1] One of her early acts was overseeing the Talent Action Plan, launched in September 2014, which aims to remove barriers that have limited LGB&T employees. Owen said the goal of the plan was to "ensure that you can succeed in the Civil Service whoever you are." Owen has also discussed the need for more gender equality in government, and is a strong proponent of policies and programmes to increase the number of women in power in the senior civil service.[8] In June 2015 Owen became the Civil Service Diversity Champion, replacing Simon Fraser.[9]

Honours

Owen was appointed a Commander of the Order of the Bath in the Queen's 2010 Birthday Honours.[10]

Offices held

Government offices
Preceded by
Sir Jonathan Stephens		 Permanent Secretary of the
Department for Culture,
Media and Sport
2013– 		Succeeded by
Incumbent

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Permanent Secretary Sue Owen". Government of the United Kingdom. Retrieved 14 April 2015.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Who's Who 2015: OWEN, Susan Jane. Who's Who. A & C Black, Oxford University Press. 2015. ISBN 978-0-19-957215-1. Retrieved 2016-03-13.
  3. ↑ "Susan Jane (Sue) OWEN". Debrett's. Retrieved 14 April 2015.
  4. ↑ Brecknell, Suzannah (27 January 2014). "Interview: Sue Owen". Civil Service World. Retrieved 14 April 2015.
  5. 1 2 3 Agbonlahor, Winnie (4 September 2013). "DCMS announces new permanent secretary". Civil Service World. Retrieved 14 April 2015.
  6. ↑ "Senior officials 'high earners' salaries as at 30 September 2015 - GOV.UK". www.gov.uk. 2015-12-17. Retrieved 2016-03-13.
  7. ↑ "Honours Committees". Cabinet Office. Retrieved 12 April 2015.
  8. ↑ Dudman, Jane (5 September 2013). "Whitehall welcomes Sue Owen as DCMS permanent secretary". The Guardian. Retrieved 15 April 2015.
  9. ↑ Heywood, Jeremy. "New diversity champions for the Civil Service". gov.uk. Her Majesty's Civil Service. Retrieved 2 July 2015.
  10. ↑ The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 59446. p. 2. 12 June 2010.
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