New Executive Chair and Chief Executive Officer appointed to lead HM Revenue & Customs
Edward Troup will become Executive Chair and Jon Thompson will become Chief Executive at HM Revenue & Customs.
The Prime Minister has appointed Edward Troup as Executive Chair and First Permanent Secretary at HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) and Jon Thompson as HMRC’s Chief Executive and First Permanent Secretary.
The appointments have been made with the approval of the Cabinet Secretary and the Chancellor of the Exchequer.
Edward Troup, currently HMRC’s Tax Assurance Commissioner and Second Permanent Secretary, will take up his new role on 5 April. Jon Thompson, currently Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Defence, will join HMRC shortly.
The Cabinet Secretary, Sir Jeremy Heywood, said:
I would like to congratulate Edward and Jon on their appointments. Edward’s deep tax expertise and long experience in both HMRC and HM Treasury make him an excellent choice to lead the department through an important phase of change and amid unprecedented public interest in taxation. Jon’s experience of leading one of the biggest departments in government, coupled with his strong financial background, make him strongly placed to deliver HMRC’s ambitious transformation plans, large-scale operations and modern customer services.
The Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne said:
These are exceptional appointments to HMRC. We have one of the country’s pre-eminent tax experts and an outstanding civil service leader with experience of transforming large organisations. Edward’s wealth of experience in tax and Jon’s operational and financial expertise, most recently as Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Defence, will prove a huge asset to HMRC as it improves its customer service and continues its vital work to clamp down on tax avoidance and evasion.
Defence Secretary Michael Fallon said:
I would like to thank Jon for his huge contribution and service to the Ministry of Defence over the past 7 years, 3 and a half years as the Permanent Secretary. He has played the key role in helping to sort out the department’s finances and balancing its budget in addition to overseeing important organisational change and the delivery of last year’s Strategic Defence and Security Review. We wish him every success at HMRC.
Edward Troup said:
I am delighted to be appointed as Executive Chair. It has been a privilege to be Tax Assurance Commissioner over the past 3 years and I look forward to leading HMRC along the path of transformation that has been established and to ensuring the delivery of the ambitious plan that we agreed with ministers in our Spending Review settlement in November.
Jon Thompson said:
While it will be a wrench to leave the Ministry of Defence, I am excited to be taking up the challenge of leading the delivery of the department that raises the revenues that pay for the nation’s public services. With 50 million individual and 5 million business customers, HMRC operates at a scale that few organisations can match.
Under the new leadership structure, Edward Troup will chair HMRC’s Board and Jon Thompson will chair HMRC’s Executive Committee and will be the Accounting Officer for HMRC. The arrangements for assuring large tax settlements in HMRC will be reviewed following Edward Troup’s appointment as Executive Chair.
Further information
Edward Troup was appointed Tax Assurance Commissioner and Second Permanent Secretary for HM Revenue and Customs in September 2012. His previous posts include:
- Director General, Tax and Welfare in HM Treasury
- Director, Business and Indirect Tax in HM Treasury
- Head of Tax Strategy, Simmons & Simmons
Jon Thompson was appointed Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Defence in September 2012. His previous posts include:
- Director General of Finance, Ministry of Defence
- Director General, Corporate Services, at the Department of Children, Schools and Families
- Finance Director, Ofsted
- Director of Finance and Resources, North Somerset Council