Dame Sarah Healey was appointed Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) on 7 February 2023.

Prior to this, she was Permanent Secretary of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) from 2019 and before that worked in the Cabinet Office where she was the Director General overseeing the development and implementation of economic and domestic policy following two and a half years working on negotiations and preparations for the UK to leave the EU. Previously, Sarah was Director General in DCMS, where she led on integrating all digital responsibilities into the organisation, Director of Private Pensions at the Department for Work and Pensions and Director of Education Funding and of Strategy at the Department for Education.

Sarah joined the civil service in 2001 to work in the Prime Minister’s Strategy Unit. She has degrees from Magdalen College, Oxford, and the LSE.