United Kingdom
Two permanent secretaries are appointed: Tom Riordan to Housing, Communities and Local Government from 21 September, and Cat Little to Business, Innovation, Science and Trade
By Staff Writer | 9 September 2026
The Cabinet Secretary, with the Prime Minister's approval, announced both appointments on 8 September. Riordan, the Northern Growth Envoy and for fourteen years chief executive of Leeds City Council, takes over the department that owns planning, housing and building safety on 21 September. Little, the Cabinet Office Permanent Secretary, moves to the department that sponsors the construction industry once her successor is in place. Both posts are fixed five-year terms.
The Cabinet Office published the two announcements a minute apart on the afternoon of 8 September. Each records that the Cabinet Secretary, Dame Antonia Romeo, made the appointment with the approval of the Prime Minister, that it followed an internal recruitment exercise chaired by the independent First Civil Service Commissioner, and that it is a permanent secretary level post offered on a fixed basis for five years.
Tom Riordan becomes Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government on 21 September. He is currently the Northern Growth Envoy, based in HM Treasury. Before that he was Second Permanent Secretary and Chief Operating Officer at the Department of Health and Social Care, and from 2010 to 2024 he was chief executive of Leeds City Council. The release thanks Dame Sarah Healey for her leadership of the department and Will Garton for serving as interim Permanent Secretary in recent months.
Cat Little becomes Permanent Secretary at the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade. She is currently Permanent Secretary at the Cabinet Office and Civil Service Chief Operating Officer, and the release says she will stay in that role until a successor is in place. A recruitment process for that successor is being launched.
What the ministers said
Angela Rayner, Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, said: "Few people have done more than Tom Riordan to champion devolution, good growth and strong local leadership - which makes him the perfect appointment at a critical time." She said she looked forward to working with him on building the homes the country needs, improving local places and giving communities more control over their future.
The Cabinet Secretary said Riordan's experience in central and local government, with his time as Northern Growth Envoy and at Leeds, made him suited to lead the department's agenda of devolution and growth. Riordan set out how he sees the job.
It's a privilege to be taking up such an important job to help ensure the whole country benefits from more affordable and safe homes, well run public services and strong regional growth. This feels like the right job at the right time as the Government devolves power, given how much I've valued working in local and regional government, and applying that learning to improving national policy.
Tom Riordan, Permanent Secretary designate, Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
Jonathan Reynolds, Secretary of State for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade, said: "The work we're doing in BIST is vital to driving the growth people across our country need, and Cat has the experience to help us deliver." He thanked Amanda Brooks for her leadership of the department over recent months. Little said she would be sad to leave the Cabinet Office team and that she looked forward to working with the Secretary of State, ministers and the department to drive growth and create jobs across all parts of the country.
Why the industry will read the names
On the desk's reading, these are the two Whitehall posts that matter most to construction. The housing department runs the planning system, the housing programme and the building safety regime, including the levy charged on building control applications from 1 October; its permanent secretary is the accounting officer for all of it. The business department is the industry's sponsor in government and the home of the construction sector's dealings on skills, trade and industrial policy. Riordan arrives from a council that was itself a major planning authority, client and landlord for fourteen years; Little arrives from the centre of government after a career in public spending and departmental finance at the Treasury, the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Defence.
Neither release says anything about policy. Both record the mechanics: who appointed, on whose approval, through what process, for how long, and from when. Riordan's start date is 21 September. Little's is not fixed, and depends on the recruitment of her own replacement at the Cabinet Office.