Sarah Elizabeth Healey (''née'' Fitzpatrick; born 1975) is 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 leader ...

, appointed as

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 ...

for the

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport , type = Department , logo = Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport logo.svg , logo_width = , logo_caption = , seal = , seal_width = , seal_caption = , picture = Gove ...

in March 2019.

Life

She read Modern History and English at

Magdalen College, Oxford Magdalen College (, ) is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, 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 ...

graduating BA, before pursuing further studies in Social Policy at the London School of Economics (MSc).Having entered HM Civil Service into the

Prime Minister's Strategy Unit The Prime Minister's Strategy Unit (often referred to simply as The Strategy Unit) was a unit based in the UK Cabinet Office between 2002 and 2010 (with its predecessor unit, the Performance and Innovation Unit, dating back to 1999). The Strategy ...

in the Cabinet Office in 2001, she served in the

Department for Education The Department for Education (DfE) is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for child protection, child services, education (compulsory, further and higher education), apprenticeships and wider skills in England. A Department ...

as the director for Strategy and Performance for a year from 2009, and then as director for Education Funding 2010–2013, and then in the

Department for Work and Pensions , type = Department , seal = , logo = Department for Work and Pensions logo.svg , logo_width = 166px , formed = , preceding1 = , jurisdiction = Government of the United Kingdom , headquarters = Caxton House7th Floor6–12 Tothill Stre ...

as director for Private Pensions for just under a year in 2013. She is married to a barrister and has three children. In December 2013, Healey was promoted Director General in the then-

Department for Culture, Media and Sport , type = Department , logo = Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport logo.svg , logo_width = , logo_caption = , seal = , seal_width = , seal_caption = , picture = Gove ...

. In mid 2016, she joined the new

Department for Exiting the European Union The Department for Exiting the European Union (DExEU; also known as the Department for Brexit or Brexit Department) was a department of the Government of the United Kingdom responsible for overseeing negotiations relating to Brexit, and establi ...

as one of their two Directors General. After two years at DExEU, she moved to replace Shona Dunn as the head of the Economic and Domestic Affairs Secretariat. In March 2019, it was announced that Healey had been further promoted, returning to DCMS to be the Permanent Secretary, replacing Dame Sue Owen. Healey 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 caregi ...

(CB) in the

Queen's Birthday Honours The Birthday Honours, in some Commonwealth realms, mark the reigning British monarch's official birthday by granting various individuals appointment into national or dynastic orders or the award of decorations and medals. The honours are present ...

in June 2019.

References

External links

Sarah Healey's page on gov.uk
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Healey, Sarah 1975 births Living people English people of Irish descent Alumni of Magdalen College, Oxford Alumni of the London School of Economics British civil servants British Permanent Secretaries Companions of the Order of the Bath Healey