Tamara Margaret Finkelstein (born 24 May 1967) is a British civil servant who is currently the

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

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for environmental protection, food production and standards, agriculture, fisheries and rural communities in the United K ...

Early life and education

Tamara Margaret Finkelstein was born on 24 May 1967 to the academic Ludwik Finkelstein and the Holocaust survivor and educator

Mirjam Finkelstein Mirjam Finkelstein (née Mirjam Wiener) (10 June 1933 – 28 January 2017) was a Holocaust survivor and educator. Born in Berlin, Germany to Dr Alfred Wiener, a Jewish activist and founder of the Wiener Library, her family moved to Amsterdam in ...

. She has two brothers, the journalist and politician

Daniel Finkelstein Daniel William Finkelstein, Baron Finkelstein, (born 30 August 1962) is a British journalist and politician. He is a former executive editor of ''The Times'' and remains a weekly political columnist. He is a former chairman of Policy Exchange ...

and the software engineer and civil servant

Anthony Finkelstein Sir Anthony Charles Wiener Finkelstein (born 28 July 1959 ) is a British engineer and computer scientist. He is the President of City, University of London. He was Chief Scientific Adviser for National Security to HM Government until 2021. E ...

, and her grandfather was

Alfred Wiener Alfred Wiener (16 March 1885, Potsdam – 4 February 1964, London) was a German Jew who dedicated much of his life to documenting antisemitism and racism in Germany and Europe, and uncovering crimes of Germany's Nazi government. He is best rememb ...

. She was educated at

Haberdashers' Aske's School for Girls Haberdashers' Girls' School is an independent day school in Elstree, Hertfordshire. It is often referred to as "Habs" (or "Habs Girls" to distinguish it from the neighbouring Haberdashers' Boys' School). The school was founded in 1875 by the Wo ...

before studying engineering science at

Balliol College, Oxford Balliol College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. One of Oxford's oldest colleges, it was founded around 1263 by John I de Balliol, a landowner from Barnard Castle in County Durham, who provided the f ...

, graduating in 1989 and economics at the

London School of Economics , mottoeng = To understand the causes of things , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £240.8 million (2021) , budget = £391.1 millio ...

, graduating in 1992.

Career

Finkelstein joined

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 1992 as an economic adviser. She became private secretary and speechwriter to the

Chancellor of the Exchequer The chancellor of the Exchequer, often abbreviated to chancellor, is a senior minister of the Crown within the Government of the United Kingdom, and head of His Majesty's Treasury. As one of the four Great Offices of State, the Chancellor is ...

in 1997 and a senior adviser in 2000. She served as deputy director for Sure Start from 2001 to 2004 before holding a number of director roles. After 22 years at the Treasury, she joined the

Department of Health A health department or health ministry is a part of government which focuses on issues related to the general health of the citizenry. Subnational entities, such as states, counties and cities, often also operate a health department of their ow ...

in 2014 as the Chief Operating Officer and a director-general. In the aftermath of the

Grenfell Tower fire On 14 June 2017, a high-rise fire broke out in the 24-storey Grenfell Tower block of flats in North Kensington, West London, at 00:54 BST and burned for 60 hours. 72 people died, two later in hospital, with more than 70 injured and 223 escapin ...

, she led the establishment of the building safety programme at the

Department of Communities and Local Government The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC), formerly the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG), is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for housing, communities, local government i ...

. In 2018, she joined the

as director-general for EU Exit Delivery, and succeeded Clare Moriarty as the permanent secretary in 2019. Finkelstein has been a trustee for the charity Norwood since 2018.

Honours

Finkelstein was appointed

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 2020 New Year Honours for public service.

References

External links

Finkelstein's page on gov.uk
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Finkelstein, Tamara Living people 1967 births Civil servants in the Ministry of Health (United Kingdom) Place of birth missing (living people) British economists Permanent Under-Secretaries of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Civil servants in HM Treasury Companions of the Order of the Bath People educated at Haberdashers' Girls' School Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford Alumni of the London School of Economics British people of German-Jewish descent