You are viewing 1 of your 1 free articles
MHCLG boss to move to new role at Ofcom
Dame Melanie Dawes, permanent secretary at the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG), is to become the chief executive of communications watchdog Ofcom.
Dame Melanie will take up her new role early next month. She has been head of MHCLG since 2015 and held a number of senior roles across the Civil Service before that.
She started her career as an economist and spent 15 years at the Treasury, including as its Europe director, and she has held roles at the Cabinet Office and HMRC.
In addition to her current permanent secretary role, Dame Melanie chairs the Civil Service people board, leading workforce strategies across all government departments. She is also the Civil Service champion for diversity and inclusion.
READ MORE
She has also held non-executive roles including with the consumer body Which and she is a trustee of the Patchwork Foundation, which promotes the participation of under-represented young people in democracy.
Lord Terence Burns, chair of Ofcom, said: “I know Melanie will do a fantastic job of leading the organisation and maintaining its strengths.
“I look forward to working with her over the months ahead as we prepare for this forthcoming legislation as well as the ongoing tasks of achieving better broadband and mobile coverage and supporting UK broadcasting.”
Dame Melanie said: “Ofcom plays a crucial role in ensuring that people and businesses across the UK get the best from their communications services. It’s a great privilege to be appointed as chief executive at a time of significant change in the sectors Ofcom regulates.”
It was also announced today that Ofcom would be handed new powers to force social media firms to act over harmful content online.
Sign up for our monthly Housing Moves newsletter
Already have an account? Click here to manage your newsletters
