James Edward Bowler CB (born July 1973) is a senior British civil servant currently serving as the Permanent Secretary to the Treasury since October 2022 having previously served as permanent secretary at the

Department for International Trade The Department for International Trade (DIT) is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for striking and extending trade agreements between the United Kingdom and foreign countries, as well as for encouraging foreign investment and ...

since 2021. Before assuming this role, Bowler was the second permanent secretary at the Cabinet Office from 2020 to 2021 where he led the COVID Taskforce for the British Government. He was the Director General for Policy, Communication and Analysis at the

Ministry of Justice A Ministry of Justice is a common type of government department that serves as a justice ministry. Lists of current ministries of justice Named "Ministry" * Ministry of Justice (Abkhazia) * Ministry of Justice (Afghanistan) * Ministry of Just ...

from March to October 2020. Bowler is currently Trustee of the charity

Police Now Police Now is a British charity supporting the recruitment of police officers across England & Wales. The social enterprise works with 31 of 43 police forces. History Police Now was initially set up as a graduate scheme by former Detective Chief ...

Education

Bowler was educated at Abingdon School from 1986 until 1991. He then attended Cardiff University where he studied Economics.

Career

Prior to March 2020 Bowler worked at

Her Majesty's Treasury His Majesty's Treasury (HM Treasury), occasionally referred to as the Exchequer, or more informally the Treasury, is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for developing and executing the government's public finance policy and e ...

for eight years, serving the positions of Director General for Public Spending between May 2017 and March 2020, Director General for Tax and Welfare between April 2015 and May 2017 and Director for Strategy, Planning and Budget between January 2012 to April 2015. Bowler was promoted to Director General in April 2015. In May 2010 when David Cameron became

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...

, Bowling was appointed to the post of Principal Private Secretary to the Prime Minister serving until December 2011. Bowler has also served under

Gordon Brown James Gordon Brown (born 20 February 1951) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 to 2010. He previously served as Chancellor of the Exchequer in Tony B ...

when he was Chancellor of the Exchequer having been appointed as his Principal Private Secretary between 2005 and 2007. Bowler continued to work closely with Brown during his premiership as Prime Minister. He was appointed Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB) in the

2012 New Year Honours 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. ...

. In May 2021, it was announced that Bowler would become the new Permanent Secretary to the

. In October 2022, Bowler was appointed as the new Permanent Secretary to the

Treasury A treasury is either *A government department related to finance and taxation, a finance ministry. *A place or location where treasure, such as currency or precious items are kept. These can be state or royal property, church treasure or i ...

References

Positions held

{{s-ttl , title = Cabinet Office

Second Permanent Secretary A permanent secretary (also known as a principal secretary) is the most senior civil servant of a department or ministry charged with running the department or ministry's day-to-day activities. Permanent secretaries are the non-political civil s ...

, years = 2020-2021 {{s-ttl , title =

Permanent Secretary to the Treasury The UK Permanent Secretary to the Treasury is the most senior civil servant at HM Treasury. The post originated as that of Assistant Secretary to the Treasury in 1805; that office was given new duties and renamed in 1867 as a Permanent Secretaryship ...

, years = 2022- } {{s-aft , after = Incumbent {{s-bef , before = Sir Tom Scholar {{s-end {{Principal Private Secretary to the Prime Minister {{DEFAULTSORT:Bowler, James 1973 births Living people People educated at Abingdon School Alumni of Cardiff University British civil servants Civil servants in HM Treasury British Prime Minister's Office Principal Private Secretaries to the Prime Minister Companions of the Order of the Bath British Permanent Secretaries Permanent Secretaries of HM Treasury {{UK-gov-bio-stub

Education

Career

See also

References

Positions held