Bill Jeffrey
Encyclopedia
Sir William Alexander "Bill" Jeffrey, KCB (born 28 February 1948) is a senior British civil servant, currently the Permanent Secretary
at the Ministry of Defence
in the United Kingdom
, due to retire from this post in the autumn of 2010.
Jeffrey was educated at Allan Glen's School
, Glasgow
, and the Glasgow University
. He joined the Home Office
in 1971. He was Britain’s most senior immigration official - director-general of the Immigration and Nationality Directorate - under Tony Blair.
In April 2005 he joined the Cabinet Office
as Security and Intelligence Coordinator, where he was the Prime Minister's principal adviser on security, intelligence, and counter-terrorism strategy. In September 2005 he was announced Permanent Secretary for Defence.
Already a Companion of the Order of the Bath
(CB), he was made Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (KCB) in the 2007 New Year Honours List.
for prioritizing the renovating of leisure facilities over the "unacceptable housing" conditions for troops and their families. The paper said 19,000 service homes were in disrepair, half of all single accommodation was "below par" and that some servicemen would have to wait 20 years for improvements.
Edward Leigh
said: "...you (Bill Jeffrey) have cut £13.5 million of essential work out of regional prime contracts, but you have obliged the same contractors to do £45 million on other projects, including resurfacing tennis courts and building all-weather pitches.
As director-general of the Immigration and Nationality Directorate Jeffrey formulated a concerted policy of risk-taking by immigration staff who were asked when processing non-European Union migrants applying to work, study or marry to attempt to where possible to make positive (permissive) judgments where it was not certain that applications could be denied
. He communicated this policy, applying to hundreds of thousands of cases, in a note to Beverley Hughes
, minister of state for citizenship and immigration. Hughes was later forced to resign for misleading MPs about whether she had been warned of the likely threat of Romanian and Bulgarian crime gangs taking advantage of the UK opening its borders to those seeking work from eastern Europe. This Whitehall correspondence which illegally withheld by the Home Office for four years and reveals an official policy to grant applications rather than to refuse them, fast-tracking over 300,000 applications with minimal checks. According to Times reporters, a number of serious criminals were admitted, including Taliban.
Permanent Secretary
The Permanent secretary, in most departments officially titled the permanent under-secretary of state , is the most senior civil servant of a British Government ministry, charged with running the department on a day-to-day basis...
at the Ministry of Defence
Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom)
The Ministry of Defence is the United Kingdom government department responsible for implementation of government defence policy and is the headquarters of the British Armed Forces....
in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, due to retire from this post in the autumn of 2010.
Jeffrey was educated at Allan Glen's School
Allan Glen's School
Allan Glen's School was for most of its existence a selective fee-paying independent secondary school for boys in Glasgow, Scotland. It was founded by the Allan Glen's Endowment Scholarship Trust on the death in 1850 of Allan Glen, a successful Glasgow tradesman and businessman, "to give a good...
, Glasgow
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
, and the Glasgow University
University of Glasgow
The University of Glasgow is the fourth-oldest university in the English-speaking world and one of Scotland's four ancient universities. Located in Glasgow, the university was founded in 1451 and is presently one of seventeen British higher education institutions ranked amongst the top 100 of the...
. He joined the Home Office
Home Office
The Home Office is the United Kingdom government department responsible for immigration control, security, and order. As such it is responsible for the police, UK Border Agency, and the Security Service . It is also in charge of government policy on security-related issues such as drugs,...
in 1971. He was Britain’s most senior immigration official - director-general of the Immigration and Nationality Directorate - under Tony Blair.
In April 2005 he joined the Cabinet Office
Cabinet Office
The Cabinet Office is a department of the Government of the United Kingdom responsible for supporting the Prime Minister and Cabinet of the United Kingdom....
as Security and Intelligence Coordinator, where he was the Prime Minister's principal adviser on security, intelligence, and counter-terrorism strategy. In September 2005 he was announced Permanent Secretary for Defence.
Already a Companion of the Order of the Bath
Order of the Bath
The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate mediæval ceremony for creating a knight, which involved bathing as one of its elements. The knights so created were known as Knights of the Bath...
(CB), he was made Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (KCB) in the 2007 New Year Honours List.
Criticism
Jeffrey has been criticised by the Public Accounts Committee chairman Edward LeighEdward Leigh
Edward Julian Egerton Leigh is a British Conservative politician. He has sat in the House of Commons as the Member of Parliament for Gainsborough in Lincolnshire since 1997, and for its predecessor constituency of Gainsborough and Horncastle between 1983 and 1997...
for prioritizing the renovating of leisure facilities over the "unacceptable housing" conditions for troops and their families. The paper said 19,000 service homes were in disrepair, half of all single accommodation was "below par" and that some servicemen would have to wait 20 years for improvements.
Edward Leigh
Edward Leigh
Edward Julian Egerton Leigh is a British Conservative politician. He has sat in the House of Commons as the Member of Parliament for Gainsborough in Lincolnshire since 1997, and for its predecessor constituency of Gainsborough and Horncastle between 1983 and 1997...
said: "...you (Bill Jeffrey) have cut £13.5 million of essential work out of regional prime contracts, but you have obliged the same contractors to do £45 million on other projects, including resurfacing tennis courts and building all-weather pitches.
As director-general of the Immigration and Nationality Directorate Jeffrey formulated a concerted policy of risk-taking by immigration staff who were asked when processing non-European Union migrants applying to work, study or marry to attempt to where possible to make positive (permissive) judgments where it was not certain that applications could be denied
. He communicated this policy, applying to hundreds of thousands of cases, in a note to Beverley Hughes
Beverley Hughes
Beverley June Hughes, Baroness Hughes of Stretford is a British Labour Party politician who was the Member of Parliament for Stretford and Urmston from 1997 to 2010. In 2004, she was appointed to the Privy Council...
, minister of state for citizenship and immigration. Hughes was later forced to resign for misleading MPs about whether she had been warned of the likely threat of Romanian and Bulgarian crime gangs taking advantage of the UK opening its borders to those seeking work from eastern Europe. This Whitehall correspondence which illegally withheld by the Home Office for four years and reveals an official policy to grant applications rather than to refuse them, fast-tracking over 300,000 applications with minimal checks. According to Times reporters, a number of serious criminals were admitted, including Taliban.