Harriet Aldridge’s move and what changes for staff at Cabinet Office
Harriet Aldridge will leave the Government Internal Audit Agency to take up the role of chief operating officer, a move that will shift her focus from leading the GIAA to running corporate functions in the cabinet office. The department says her start date will be announced shortly, and a recruitment exercise for a new GIAA chief exec will begin shortly.
Harriet Aldridge and the Government Internal Audit Agency experience
Aldridge will move from her current role as chief executive of the GIAA, where she led internal audit service provision across government, to become chief operating officer at the Cabinet Office. In the COO role she will be responsible for corporate functions, enabling change and delivering on the department’s key priorities. Her departure from the GIAA triggers the planned recruitment for a new CEO, and interim arrangements for GIAA leadership will be confirmed before Aldridge’s start date is announced.
Cabinet Office leadership reshuffle including Dame Antonia Romeo
The appointment of Aldridge is one part of a wave of senior moves into the Cabinet Office. Recent changes named in the department include Dame Antonia Romeo becoming cabinet secretary and head of the civil service after leaving the Home Office, and Juliet Chua joining as director general for the Economic and Domestic Secretariat. Other shifts listed include Ellen Atkinson arriving as director general for the Propriety and Constitution Group, and Darren Tierney moving on to be permanent secretary at the Office for National Statistics.
What Sarah Harrison’s exit and GIAA recruitment mean for the cabinet office
Aldridge will replace Sarah Harrison, who left in November to become chief executive of the Building Societies Association. The cabinet office has signalled that Aldridge’s start date will be set once interim leadership at the GIAA is in place, and that a substantive recruitment exercise will begin for a new GIAA chief exec. Meanwhile, the post of government chief people officer remains to be filled, currently shared on an interim basis by Caitlin Kinsella and Janette Durbin.
Returning to the opening detail: Harriet Aldridge’s move from the GIAA to the chief operating officer role is confirmed, and the next confirmed development the department has set is the announcement of her start date once interim arrangements at the GIAA are in place.
