Sir Robin Mountfield, KCB (16 October 1939 – 9 November 2011) was a 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 ...

, who retired in 1999 from his most senior post as

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 ...

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 ...

Early life and education

Mountfield was born on 16 October 1939. He attended

Merchant Taylors' School, Crosby Merchant Taylors' Boys' School, Crosby is a British independent school for day pupils, located in Great Crosby on Merseyside. The school's motto is that of the Worshipful Company of Merchant Taylors: ''Concordia Parvae Res Crescunt'' (Small Thing ...

and then

Magdalen College, Oxford Magdalen College (, ) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. It was founded in 1458 by William of Waynflete. Today, it is the fourth wealthiest college, with a financial endowment of £332.1 million as of 2019 and one of the s ...

Career

He joined the Ministry of Power in 1961. He rose to the rank of Deputy Secretary in the Department of Trade and Industry in 1984, where he served until 1992 when he transferred to

HM 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 ec ...

. In 1995 he moved to the Cabinet Office as

responsible for the Office of Public Service there (the remainder of the

Office of Public Service and Science An office is a space where an organization's employees perform administrative work in order to support and realize objects and goals of the organization. The word "office" may also denote a position within an organization with specific duti ...

after the Office of Science and Technology transferred to DTI). In 1998, his role was re-cast as Permanent Secretary ''at'' the Cabinet Office, in which he served until his retirement in 1999.

Personal life

In 1963, Mountfield married Anne Newsham. Together they had two sons and a daughter. His daughter,

Helen Mountfield Helen Mountfield, (born 14 March 1967) is a British barrister practising in administrative, human rights, and equality law. She has been Principal of Mansfield College, Oxford since 2018. Early life and education Mountfield was born on 14 Mar ...

, is a barrister and the Principal of Mansfield College, Oxford. He died on 9 November 2011.

Honours

Mountfield was appointed a

Companion of the Order of the Bath Companion may refer to: Relationships Currently * Any of several interpersonal relationships such as friend or acquaintance * A domestic partner, akin to a spouse * Sober companion, an addiction treatment coach * Companion (caregiving), a caregive ...

(CB) in the

1988 Birthday Honours Queen's Birthday Honours are announced on or around the date of the Queen's Official Birthday in Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. The dates vary, both from year to year and from country to country. All are published in supple ...

. He was promoted to Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (KCB) in the

1999 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1999 for various Commonwealth realms were announced on 30 December 1998, to celebrate the year passed and mark the beginning of 1999. The ''Honours list'' is a list of people who have been awarded one of the various orders, d ...

shortly after his retirement.

Styles

* Mr Robin Mountfield (1939–1988) * Mr Robin Mountfield CB (1998–1999) * Sir Robin Mountfield KCB (1999-2011)

Offices held

References

External links

"Obituary - Sir Robin Mountfield", ''The Telegraph'', 15 November 2011

"Obituary - Sir Robin Mountfield", University of Essex, 19 December 2011
1939 births 2011 deaths Knights Companion of the Order of the Bath Civil servants in the Cabinet Office Permanent Secretaries of the Cabinet Office Private secretaries in the British Civil Service {{UK-gov-bio-stub