Philip Rutnam

Sir Philip McDougall Rutnam, KCB (born 19 June 1965) is a British former civil servant who was Permanent Secretary at the Home Office from 2017 until his resignation on 29 February 2020. Prior to this, he was the Permanent Secretary at the Department for Transport for five years. Upon resigning, he announced his intention to sue for constructive dismissal against Home Secretary Priti Patel.

Sir Philip Rutnam KCB
Philip Rutnam
Permanent Secretary of the Home Department
In office 5 April 2017 – 29 February 2020
Prime Minister	Theresa May Boris Johnson
Minister	Amber Rudd Sajid Javid Priti Patel
Preceded by	Mark Sedwill
Succeeded by	Matthew Rycroft
Permanent Secretary of the Department for Transport
In office 12 March 2012 – 5 April 2017
Prime Minister	David Cameron Theresa May
Minister	Justine Greening Patrick McLoughlin Chris Grayling
Preceded by	Lin Homer
Succeeded by	Bernadette Kelly
Personal details
Born	Philip McDougall Rutnam 19 June 1965 Bromley, Kent, England
Nationality	British
Alma mater	Trinity Hall, Cambridge Harvard University
Occupation	Civil servant

Early life and education

Born in Bromley,[1] Rutnam was educated at Dulwich College Preparatory School, Dulwich College, Trinity Hall, Cambridge, and Harvard University.[2]

Career

Rutnam joined the Civil Service in 1987 where he held posts at the Treasury. He also worked for Morgan Stanley in Hong Kong and later joined Ofcom where he became a member of the Board.[3] He joined the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills as Director General in 2009.[4]

Department for Transport

Rutnam became Permanent Secretary at the Department for Transport in April 2012.[3] As of 2015, Rutnam was paid a salary of between £170,000 and £174,999, making him one of the 328 most highly paid people in the British public sector at that time.[5]

While he was there he was Disability Champion for the Civil Service and oversaw a £61 billion improvement of Network Rail,[6] some of which the Transport Secretary said needed to be 'reset' due to various factors including cost over-runs.[7]

Home Office

On 27 February 2017, it was announced that Rutnam would replace Mark Sedwill as Permanent Secretary at the Home Office.[8] Rutnam took up the post in April 2017.[9]

Rutnam was appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath in the 2018 New Year Honours for public service.[10]

On 30 April 2018 Amber Rudd resigned as Home Secretary [11] because she had been unaware that there were targets for removals and had claimed there were not. Sir Philip was accused of presiding over this culture where "completely misleading emails" were sent by civil servants in the Home Office to Ms Rudd on this matter.[12]

In February 2020, the Home Secretary Priti Patel faced allegations that she had demanded the removal of Rutnam after he raised concerns about her behaviour. Allies of Patel rejected claims of any bullying and a Home Office spokesman said: "We have not received any formal complaints and we take the welfare of our staff extremely seriously."[13]

On 29 February 2020 Rutnam announced his resignation, stating publicly he would sue the government for constructive and unfair dismissal in a court, and that he did not believe assertions that Patel was uninvolved in the alleged campaign against him.[14] He was replaced the same day by Shona Dunn, as acting permanent secretary.[15] His employment tribunal claim for unfair dismissal was lodged on 20 April, his trade union, the FDA, having instructed Gavin Mansfield to advise him.[16]

References

1. "Index entry". FreeBMD. ONS. Retrieved 30 December 2017.
2. RUTNAM, Philip McDougall, ''Who's Who 2014'', A & C Black, 2014; online edn, Oxford University Press, 2014
3. "New Permanent Secretary for Department for Transport" (Press release). Department for Transport and The Rt Hon Justine Greening MP. 12 March 2012. Retrieved 2 November 2014.
4. "My priorities as Civil Service Disability Champion | Civil Service". Retrieved 18 May 2017.
5. "Senior officials 'high earners' salaries as at 30 September 2015 - GOV.UK". www.gov.uk. 17 December 2015. Retrieved 13 March 2016.
6. Interview: Department for Transport perm sec Philip Rutnam on civil service disability support – and getting Network Rail back on track Civil Service World 23-May-2016
7. Electrification on hold as Network Rail spending is ‘reset’ Railway Gazette 25 June 2015
8. "Cabinet office: new senior appointments and changes - GOV.UK". www.gov.uk. Retrieved 5 March 2017.
9. "Philip Rutnam - GOV.UK". www.gov.uk. Retrieved 18 May 2017.
10. "No. 62150". The London Gazette (Supplement). 30 December 2017. p. N3.
11. Amber Rudd resigns hours after Guardian publishes deportation targets letter the Guardian 30-Apr-2018
12. The official e-mails which helped fell Amber Rudd Evening Standard 30-Apr-2018
13. Hymas, Charlie (20 February 2020). "Priti Patel denies claims she tried to oust her top civil servant". The Telegraph. Retrieved 20 February 2020.
14. "Home Office boss quits over 'campaign against him'". BBC News. 29 February 2020. Retrieved 29 February 2020.
15. Walawalkar, Aaron (29 February 2020). "Home Office chief Sir Philip Rutnam quits over Priti Patel 'bullying'". The Guardian. Retrieved 29 February 2020.
16. "Patel faces unfair dismissal claim from ex-adviser". BBC News. 20 April 2020. Retrieved 20 April 2020.