Sir Kenneth Ronald Stowe (17 July 1927 – 29 August 2015) was a senior British
civil servant
The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil servants hired on professional merit rather than appointed or elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leaders ...
. He was
Principal Private Secretary to the Prime Minister 1975 to 1979, and the
Permanent Under-Secretary of State
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 ...
of the
Northern Ireland Office
The Northern Ireland Office (NIO; ga, Oifig Thuaisceart Éireann, Ulster-Scots: ''Norlin Airlann Oaffis'') is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for Northern Ireland affairs. The NIO is led by the Secretary of State for N ...
1979 to 1981. From 1981 to 1987 he was
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
Department of Health and Social Security
The Department of Health and Social Security (commonly known as the DHSS) was a ministry of the British government in existence for twenty years from 1968 until 1988, and was headed by the Secretary of State for Health and Social Services.
His ...
. He was made a
CB in 1977,
CVO in 1979, and
KCB in 1980 and a GCB in 1986.
Biography
Stowe was born in
Dagenham
Dagenham () is a town in East London, England, within the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham. Dagenham is centred east of Charing Cross.
It was historically a rural parish in the Becontree Hundred of Essex, stretching from Hainault Forest ...
,
Essex
Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...
on 17 July 1927.
His father Arthur Percy Stowe was maker of spectacles and his mother was Emmie Louise (Emma), née Webb.
Stowe attended
Dagenham County High School and studied history, under a scholarship, at
Exeter College, Oxford
Exeter College (in full: The Rector and Scholars of Exeter College in the University of Oxford) is one of the Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England and the fourth-oldest college of the un ...
. On 20 August 1949, Stowe married Joan Frances Randall Cullen, a teacher, in Essex. The couple went on to have two sons and a daughter. He was widowed in 1995
Stowe graduated in 1951, he joined the civil service's
National Assistance Board
The National Assistance Board was established by the National Assistance Act 1948 and abolished in by the Ministry of Social Security Act 1966. It was preceded by the Unemployment Assistance Board (known from 1941 as the Assistance Board) and ...
(later to become the
Ministry of Social Security Ministry of Social Security or Department of Social Security is the government entity responsible for social security affairs. It may be a ministry office, a department, or, as in the United States, a nominally independent agency.
Notable ones ar ...
), working directly with those people who were asking for help. In 1973, he began employment as under-secretary at the
Cabinet Office
The Cabinet Office is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for supporting the prime minister and Cabinet. It is composed of various units that support Cabinet committees and which co-ordinate the delivery of government objecti ...
in the Legislation Committee.
When
Robert Armstrong retired in 1975, he was recommended to
Harold Wilson
James Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx, (11 March 1916 – 24 May 1995) was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from October 1964 to June 1970, and again from March 1974 to April 1976. He ...
as
Principal Private Secretary to the Prime Minister. He remained in the role for 4 years, serving under
Harold Wilson
James Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx, (11 March 1916 – 24 May 1995) was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from October 1964 to June 1970, and again from March 1974 to April 1976. He ...
,
James Callaghan
Leonard James Callaghan, Baron Callaghan of Cardiff, ( ; 27 March 191226 March 2005), commonly known as Jim Callaghan, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1976 to 1979 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1976 to 1980. Callaghan is ...
and for the first few months of
Margaret Thatcher's premiership.
Thatcher appointed Stowe as
Permanent Under-Secretary of State
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 ...
of the
Northern Ireland Office
The Northern Ireland Office (NIO; ga, Oifig Thuaisceart Éireann, Ulster-Scots: ''Norlin Airlann Oaffis'') is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for Northern Ireland affairs. The NIO is led by the Secretary of State for N ...
in 1979, where he brokered an agreement during the
1980 hunger strike at
Maze prison
Her Majesty's Prison Maze (previously Long Kesh Detention Centre, and known colloquially as The Maze or H-Blocks) was a prison in Northern Ireland that was used to house alleged paramilitary prisoners during the Troubles from August 1971 to Sept ...
, although it did not hold. He became
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 ...
for the
Department of Health and Social Security
The Department of Health and Social Security (commonly known as the DHSS) was a ministry of the British government in existence for twenty years from 1968 until 1988, and was headed by the Secretary of State for Health and Social Services.
His ...
in 1981, responsible for over a million individuals in the
NHS
The National Health Service (NHS) is the umbrella term for the publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom (UK). Since 1948, they have been funded out of general taxation. There are three systems which are referred to using the " ...
and social services departments.
After retirement in 1987, Stowe spent a period advising public service reform in
Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozam ...
and
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
, as well as reform programs in the UK. He received multiple honours during his time in the
civil service
The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil servants hired on professional merit rather than appointed or elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leaders ...
, a
CB in 1977,
CVO in 1979, and
KCB in 1980 and a GCB in 1986.
He spent his later years with his partner Judith Mary Phillips and died at his home in
Lingen, Herefordshire on 29 August 2015.
References
External links
The Papers of Sir Kenneth Stoweheld at
Churchill Archives Centre
The Churchill Archives Centre (CAC) at Churchill College at the University of Cambridge is one of the largest repositories in the United Kingdom for the preservation and study of modern personal papers. It is best known for housing the papers of ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stowe, Kenneth
1927 births
2015 deaths
Permanent Under-Secretaries of State for Northern Ireland
Permanent Under-Secretaries of State for Social Services
Private secretaries in the British Civil Service
Commanders of the Royal Victorian Order
Fellows of Exeter College, Oxford
Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath
Principal Private Secretaries to the Prime Minister