14 Facts About Melanie Dawes

Dame Melanie Henrietta Dawes was born on 9 March 1966 and is a British economist and administrator.

Melanie Dawes was previously the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, and before that worked at HM Treasury, HM Revenue and Customs, and in the Cabinet Office.

Melanie Dawes is a Trustee of the Patchwork Foundation, founded by Harris Bokhari.

Melanie Dawes was educated at Malvern Girls' College, then an all-girls private school in Malvern, Worcestershire.

Melanie Dawes studied at New College, Oxford, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree.

Melanie Dawes then undertook postgraduate studies in economics at Birkbeck College, London, graduating with a Master of Science degree.

Melanie Dawes was Director General for Business Tax at HMRC from November 2007, replacing Dave Hartnett.

On 1 March 2015 Dawes was appointed as the Permanent Secretary of the Department for Communities and Local Government, succeeding Sir Bob Kerslake.

Melanie Dawes was the first permanent secretary to be appointed under a new scheme in which the Prime Minister has the final say in the recruitment process; the PM now chooses from a list created by the Civil Service Commissioners, rather than only having a veto over the Commissioners' preferred candidate.

On 12 February 2020, Melanie Dawes was named as the new Chief Executive of broadcasting, telecoms and postal services regulator Ofcom.

Melanie Dawes was Chair of the Alcohol Recovery Project from 2003 to 2005.

Melanie Dawes was the Civil Service Gender Champion from 2015 to 2019, when she was appointed as the overall Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Champion.

Melanie Dawes was a judge for the 2015 Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Awards.

Melanie Dawes was appointed Companion of the Order of the Bath in the 2013 Birthday Honours for "services to the Civil Service in the field of Economic Policy" and promoted to Dame Commander of the Order of the Bath in the 2020 New Year Honours for public service.