Jenny Pyper is a Northern Ireland civil servant. On 27 November 2020 she was appointed as Interim Head of the Northern Ireland Civil Service, taking up the position for eight months from 1 December, and succeeding David Sterling, who stepped down from the role in August 2020. Pyper previously served as Chief Executive of the Utility Regulator. [1]
Pyper joined the civil service in 1985, and worked in a number of economic development roles. In 2004 she was appointed as Director of Energy Policy at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment, before later taking up the role of Director of Regional Planning and Transportation at the Department for Regional Development. In 2011 she became Deputy Secretary at the Department for Social Development, and joined the Utility Regulator in 2013. She retired from the Utility Regulator in the autumn of 2020. Her appointment as interim head of the Northern Ireland Civil Service was announced after Arlene Foster and Michelle O'Neill, Northern Ireland's First and Deputy First Ministers respectively, were unable to agree on a permanent candidate for the post. She became the first woman to occupy the role. [2]
The Water Services Regulation Authority, or Ofwat, is the body responsible for economic regulation of the privatised water and sewerage industry in England and Wales. Ofwat's main statutory duties include protecting the interests of consumers, securing the long-term resilience of water supply and wastewater systems, and ensuring that companies carry out their functions and are able to finance them.
The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) is the office or official charged with the prosecution of criminal offences in several criminal jurisdictions around the world. The title is used mainly in jurisdictions that are or have been members of the Commonwealth of Nations.
The Northern Ireland Executive is the devolved government of Northern Ireland, an administrative branch of the legislature – the Northern Ireland Assembly, situated in Belfast. It is answerable to the assembly and was initially established according to the terms of the Northern Ireland Act 1998, which followed the Good Friday Agreement. The executive is referred to in the legislation as the Executive Committee of the assembly and is an example of consociationalist ("power-sharing") government.
AQA Education, trading as AQA, is an awarding body in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. It compiles specifications and holds examinations in various subjects at GCSE, AS and A Level and offers vocational qualifications. AQA is a registered charity and independent of the government. However, its qualifications and exam syllabi are regulated by the Government of the United Kingdom, which is the regulator for the public examinations system in England and Wales.
In the United Kingdom, the Electoral Commission is the national election commission, created in 2001 as a result of the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000. It is an independent agency that regulates party and election finance and sets standards for how elections should be run.
The Office of Gas and Electricity Markets (Ofgem), supporting the Gas and Electricity Markets Authority, is the government regulator for the electricity and downstream natural gas markets in Great Britain. It was formed by the merger of the Office of Electricity Regulation (OFFER) and Office of Gas Supply (Ofgas).
The Northern Ireland Civil Service is the permanent bureaucracy of employees that supports the Northern Ireland Executive, the devolved government of Northern Ireland.
The Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation (Ofqual) is a non-ministerial government department that regulates qualifications, exams and tests in England. Colloquially and publicly, Ofqual is often referred to as the exam "watchdog".
The RTÉ Executive Board, despite its name, was not a board of directors, but rather was a committee composed of the senior management of the Irish public service broadcaster, Raidió Teilifís Éireann, responsible for the day-to-day running of the broadcaster.
The Attorney General for Northern Ireland is the chief legal adviser to the Northern Ireland Executive for both civil and criminal matters that fall within the devolved powers of the Northern Ireland Assembly. The Attorney General for Northern Ireland is also responsible for appointing the director and deputy director of the Public Prosecution Service for Northern Ireland.
The electricity sectors of the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland are integrated and supply 2.5 million customers from a combination of coal, peat, natural gas, wind and hydropower. In 2022, 34 TWh were generated. In 2018 natural gas produced 51.8%, while wind turbines generated 28.1%, coal 7%, and peat 6.8% of Ireland's average electricity demand. In 2020 wind turbines generated 36.3% of Ireland's electrical demand, one of the highest wind power proportions in the world. While the United Kingdom was one of the first countries in the world to deploy commercial nuclear power plants, the island of Ireland has never had a nuclear power plant built on either side of the Irish border. Nuclear power in Ireland was discussed in the 1960s and 1970s but ultimately never phased in, with legislation now in place explicitly forbidding its introduction.
The British Association for Adoption and Fostering (BAAF) was a membership association formed in 1980 and a registered charity. Membership was open to organisations and individuals concerned with child adoption and fostering. Corporate members included local authorities, independent fostering agencies, voluntary adoption agencies, NHS trusts, law firms and voluntary organisations. Individual members included social workers, health professionals, law professionals, adopters and foster carers. BAAF's 2013–14 annual review reported a corporate membership of more than 450 and 1400 individual members.
Diana Mary "Dido" Harding, Baroness Harding of Winscombe is a British businesswoman and life peer who served as chair of NHS Improvement from 2017 to 2021, and as interim chief executive of the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) and head of NHS Test and Trace from 2020 to 2021.
The Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) is the regulator for the nuclear industry in the United Kingdom. It is an independent statutory corporation whose costs are met by charging fees to the nuclear industry. The ONR reports to the Department for Work and Pensions, although it also worked closely with the now-defunct Department of Energy and Climate Change.
Dame Lynne Gillian Owens, is a senior police officer in the United Kingdom. She was made interim Deputy Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Service in September 2022 before being confirmed as that role's permanent holder in February 2023, the first-ever such female holder.
Janice Charette is a Canadian public servant and diplomat who served as clerk of the Privy Council and secretary to the Cabinet from 2014 to 2016 and again from 2021 to 2023. Charette was the Canadian high commissioner to the United Kingdom from 2016 to 2021.
Dame Sharon Michele White, Lady Chote, is a British businesswoman. She is the current chair of the John Lewis Partnership, having previously held a variety of roles in the Civil Service.
There has been a Head of the Northern Ireland Civil Service (NICS) since Sir Ernest Clark was appointed the first holder of that office in 1921. As of 2017 and according to the Executive Office, the Head of the 23,500-people strong NICS "has primary leadership responsibility for creating, developing and sustaining the NICS as an organisation which serves the devolved administration, the institutions of government and the people of Northern Ireland through the provision of high quality, cost effective services." The incumbent is also Permanent Secretary of the Executive Office and Secretary to the Northern Ireland Executive, making the office-holder the "most senior adviser to the First Minister and the deputy First Minister".
Dame Jennifer Margaret Harries is a British public health physician who has been the chief executive of the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) and head of NHS Test and Trace since May 2021. She was previously a regional director at Public Health England, and then Deputy Chief Medical Officer for England from June 2019 until her UKHSA appointment in 2021.
Lindy Cameron is a British civil servant and diplomat, serving from April 2024 as British High Commissioner to India. From 2020 to 2024 she was chief executive officer at the National Cyber Security Centre, and before that Director-General in the Northern Ireland Office and the Department for International Development.