Tamara Margaret Finkelstein CB (born 24 May 1967) is a British civil servant who is currently the permanent secretary at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.[1][2]
Tamara Finkelstein | |
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Permanent Secretary for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs | |
Assumed office 19 June 2019 | |
Prime Minister | Theresa May Boris Johnson Liz Truss Rishi Sunak |
Minister | Michael Gove Theresa Villiers George Eustice Ranil Jayawardena Thérèse Coffey |
Preceded by | Clare Moriarty |
Personal details | |
Born | 24 May 1967 |
Parent(s) | Ludwik Finkelstein (father) Mirjam Finkelstein (mother) |
Relatives | Daniel Finkelstein (brother) Anthony Finkelstein (brother) Alfred Wiener (grandfather) |
Education | Haberdashers' Aske's School for Girls |
Alma mater | Balliol College, Oxford London School of Economics |
Occupation | Civil servant |
Early life and education
editTamara Margaret Finkelstein was born on 24 May 1967 to the academic Ludwik Finkelstein and the Holocaust survivor and educator Mirjam Finkelstein.[3] She has two brothers, Daniel Finkelstein, a journalist and a politician, and Anthony Finkelstein, a software engineer and civil servant. Her grandfather was Alfred Wiener.
She was educated at Haberdashers' Aske's School for Girls before studying engineering science at Balliol College, Oxford, graduating in 1989, and economics at the London School of Economics, graduating in 1992.[3]
Career
editFinkelstein joined HM Treasury in 1992 as an economic adviser. She became private secretary and speechwriter to the Chancellor of the Exchequer in 1997 and a senior adviser in 2000.[4] She served as deputy director for Sure Start from 2001 to 2004 before holding a number of director roles.[3][5]
After 22 years at the Treasury, she joined the Department of Health in 2014 as the Chief Operating Officer and a director-general. In the aftermath of the Grenfell Tower fire, she led the establishment of the building safety programme at the Department of Communities and Local Government.[2] In 2018, she joined the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 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.[6]
Honours
editFinkelstein was appointed Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB) in the 2020 New Year Honours for public service.[7]
References
edit- ^ "Appointment of new Permanent Secretary at Defra". GOV.UK. 19 June 2019. Retrieved 21 June 2019.
- ^ a b Finkelstein, Tamara Margaret, A & C Black, 1 December 2018, doi:10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.U245056
- ^ a b c "Finkelstein, Tamara Margaret, (Mrs M. Isaacs), (born 24 May 1967), Permanent Secretary, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, since 2019 | WHO'S WHO & WHO WAS WHO". www.ukwhoswho.com. doi:10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.U245056. Retrieved 28 December 2019.
- ^ Guardian Staff (7 March 1999). "Gordon watches the pounds with takeaway pizzas and sound bites". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 28 December 2019.
- ^ Rogers, Simon (16 June 2011). "The Whitehall list: every senior civil servant, what they do and who they work for". the Guardian. Retrieved 28 December 2019.
- ^ "New Norwood chair adds two women to board of trustees". jewishnews.timesofisrael.com. Retrieved 28 December 2019.
- ^ "No. 62866". The London Gazette (Supplement). 28 December 2019. p. N3.