Sir John Seton Cassels, CB,

FRSA The Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA), also known as the Royal Society of Arts, is a London-based organisation committed to finding practical solutions to social challenges. The RSA acronym is used m ...

(10 October 1928 – 27 February 2016) was an English civil servant and educationalist.

Life

Cassels was educated at

Sedbergh School Sedbergh School is a public school (English independent day and boarding school) in the town of Sedbergh in Cumbria, in North West England. It comprises a junior school for children aged 4 to 13 and the main school for 13 to 18 year olds. It w ...

. After studying at

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by Henry VIII, King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge ...

and the

British School at Rome The British School at Rome (BSR) is an interdisciplinary research centre supporting the arts, humanities and architecture. History The British School at Rome (BSR) was established in 1901 and granted a UK Royal Charter in 1912. Its mission is " ...

, Cassels entered the civil service in 1954 and reached the rank of under-secretary before leaving in 1971. After a brief period in the private sector, Cassels returned to government service as chief executive of the Training Services Agency (1972–75). He was then director-general of the

Manpower Services Commission The Manpower Services Commission (MSC) was a non-departmental public body of the Department of Employment Group in the United Kingdom created by Edward Heath's Conservative Government in 1973. The MSC had a remit to co-ordinate employment and tr ...

(1975–81), Second

Permanent Secretary A permanent secretary (also known as a principal secretary) is the most senior Civil Service (United Kingdom), civil servant of a department or Ministry (government department), ministry charged with running the department or ministry's day-to-day ...

of the Management and Personnel Office (1981–83) and director-general of the

National Economic Development Office National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

(1983–88). In retirement, he was chairman of UK Skills (1990–2000), director of the National Commission on Education (1991–95), chairman of the Independent Inquiry into the Role and Responsibilities of the Police (1994–96) and chairman of the Modern Apprenticeship Advisory Committee (2001).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cassels, John 1928 births 2016 deaths English civil servants Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Knights Bachelor Companions of the Order of the Bath