Michael Bichard
Michael George Bichard, Baron Bichard, KCB, (born 31 January 1947) is a former public servant in the United Kingdom, first in local and then as a civil servant in central government.
Political Career[edit]
Bichard served as the Chief Executive of Brent Council between 1980 and 1986, and then of Gloucestershire County Council between 1986 and 1990. In 1990, he was appointed Chief Executive of the Benefits Agency. In 1995, Bichard was made Permanent Secretary of the Department for Employment. When it merged with the Department for Education (DfE) to form the Department for Education and Employment (DfEE), he became Permanent Secretary of the combined department, under Gillian Shephard, and then, post-1997, David Blunkett. During his time as Permanent Secretary, he introduced several modernising reforms to the Department, notably in bringing its use of information technology and new media up to date. He oversaw some significant changes to the education policy landscape, such as the introduction of the Learning and Skills Council to fund further education and apprenticeships.
In May 2001 he retired from the Civil Service, when DfEE and the Department for Social Security were split into the Department for Education and Skills and Department for Work and Pensions.
