Sir David Radford Serpell, KCB, CMG, OBE (10 November 1911 – 28 July 2008) was a British civil servant. Born in

Plymouth Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west. Plymouth ...

on 10 November 1911, Serpell was the son of a solicitor. He attended

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 ...

, and then completed a diploma at the

University of Toulouse The University of Toulouse (french: Université de Toulouse) was a university in the French city of Toulouse that was established by papal bull in 1229, making it one of the earliest universities to emerge in Europe. Suppressed during the Frenc ...

. Following further studies at

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York. Established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church, the university has been nonsectarian since 1920. Locate ...

, he was a fellow at

Tufts University Tufts University is a private research university on the border of Medford and Somerville, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1852 as Tufts College by Christian universalists who sought to provide a nonsectarian institution of higher learning. ...

. He joined HM Civil Service in 1937, moving to the

Ministry of Food An agriculture ministry (also called an) agriculture department, agriculture board, agriculture council, or agriculture agency, or ministry of rural development) is a ministry charged with agriculture. The ministry is often headed by a minister ...

in 1939, the

Ministry of Fuel and Power The Ministry of Power was a United Kingdom government ministry dealing with issues concerning energy. The Ministry of Power (then named Ministry of Fuel and Power) was created on 11 June 1942 from functions separated from the Board of Trade. ...

in 1942, and then

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 1945. He became an under-secretary in 1954 and, on moving to the

Ministry of Transport A ministry of transport or transportation is a ministry responsible for transportation within a country. It usually is administered by the ''minister for transport''. The term is also sometimes applied to the departments or other government age ...

, became a deputy secretary in 1960 and oversaw inland transport. In 1963, he was appointed Second Secretary at the

Board of Trade The Board of Trade is a British government body concerned with commerce and industry, currently within the Department for International Trade. Its full title is The Lords of the Committee of the Privy Council appointed for the consideration of ...

and was made its 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 ...

in 1966. In 1968, he was briefly Second Secretary at the Treasury, before he served as Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Transport from 1968 to 1970, overseeing railway reforms and the implementation of the

Transport Act 1968 The Transport Act 1968 (1968 c.73) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The main provisions made changes to the structure of nationally owned bus companies, created passenger transport authorities and executives to take over pub ...

. When the ministry was merged into the Department for the Environment in 1970, he was appointed its Permanent Secretary, serving until 1972.Terry Gourvish
"Serpell, Sir David Radford"
''

The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...

'' (online ed.,

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...

, 2013). After leaving the civil service, he was on the board of

British Rail British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most of the overground rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the Big Four British rai ...

(from 1974 to 1982) and then carried out his ''Review of Railway Finances'', known as the

Serpell Report The Serpell Report was produced by a committee chaired by Sir David Serpell, a retired senior civil servant. It was commissioned by the government of Margaret Thatcher to examine the state and long-term prospects of Great Britain's railway syste ...

and published in 1983. This was highly controversial, but many of his recommendations about operating and engineering would be implemented later in the 1980s. In the meantime, he had also chaired the

Nature Conservancy Council The Nature Conservancy Council (NCC) was a United Kingdom government agency responsible for designating and managing National Nature Reserves and other nature conservation areas in Great Britain between 1973 and 1991 (it did not cover Northern ...

(from 1973 to 1977) and served on the boards of several public bodies. He died on 28 July 2008."Sir David Serpell", ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

'' (London), 7 August 2008, p. 55. .

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Serpell, David 1911 births 2008 deaths British civil servants Alumni of Exeter College, Oxford University of Toulouse alumni Syracuse University alumni Knights Companion of the Order of the Bath Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George Officers of the Order of the British Empire British expatriates in France British expatriates in the United States