Robin Mountfield

{{Short description|British civil servant}} {{Use dmy dates|date=October 2020}} {{Infobox officeholder | honorific_prefix = Sir | name = Robin Mountfield | honorific_suffix = KCB | image_upright = | alt = | caption = Sir Robin Mountfield on the steps of the Cabinet Office | order = | office = Permanent Secretary at the Cabinet Office | status =  | term_start = 1995 | term_end = 1999 | predecessor = Sir Richard Mottram | successor = Sir Brian Bender | birth_date = {{Birth date|1939|10|16|df=y}} | birth_place = | death_date = {{Death date and age|2011|11|9|1939|10|16|df=y}} | death_place = | citizenship = | party = | other_party =  | height =  | spouse = {{marriage |Anne Newsham|1963 |2011}} | partner =  | relations = | children = 3 (including Helen) | parents =  | mother =  | father =  | relatives = | education = | alma_mater = Magdalen College, Oxford | occupation = | profession = | known_for = | salary = | net_worth =  | cabinet = | committees = | portfolio = | awards =  | blank1 = | data1 = | blank2 = | data2 = | blank3 = | data3 = | blank4 = | data4 = | blank5 = | data5 = | signature = | signature_alt = | website =  | nickname = | allegiance = | branch = | rank = | unit = | commands = | battles = | mawards =  | military_blank1 = | military_data1 = | military_blank2 = | military_data2 = | military_blank3 = | military_data3 = | military_blank4 = | military_data4 = | military_blank5 = | military_data5 =  | module = | module2 = | module3 = | module4 = | module5 = | footnotes = }} '''Sir Robin Mountfield''', KCB (16 October 1939 – 9 November 2011) was a British civil servant, who retired in 1999 from his most senior post as Permanent Secretary at the Cabinet Office.<ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.ukwhoswho.com/view/article/oupww/whoswho/U28365 |title = MOUNTFIELD, Sir Robin |first = Sir Robin |last = Mountfield |year = 2012 |work = Who's Who 2012 |publisher = A & C Black |access-date = 9 February 2012}}</ref>

==Early life and education== Mountfield was born on 16 October 1939. He attended Merchant Taylors' School, Crosby and then Magdalen College, Oxford.<ref name="WWW"/>

==Career== He joined the Ministry of Power in 1961. He rose to the rank of Deputy Secretary in the Department of Trade and Industry in 1984, where he served until 1992 when he transferred to HM Treasury. In 1995 he moved to the Cabinet Office as Permanent Secretary<ref name="WWW"/> responsible for the Office of Public Service there (the remainder of the Office of Public Service and Science after the Office of Science and Technology transferred to DTI). In 1998, his role was re-cast as Permanent Secretary ''at'' the Cabinet Office, in which he served until his retirement in 1999.

In retirement he served as a non-executive director for a number of private companies.<ref name="WWW"/>

==Personal life== In 1963, Mountfield married Anne Newsham. Together they had two sons and a daughter.<ref name="WWW">{{cite web |title=Mountfield, Sir Robin |url=http://www.ukwhoswho.com/view/10.1093/ww/9780199540891.001.0001/ww-9780199540884-e-28365 |website=Who Was Who |publisher=Oxford University Press|doi=10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.U28365 |date=1 December 2016|isbn=978-0-19-954089-1 }}</ref> His daughter, Helen Mountfield, is a barrister and the Principal of Mansfield College, Oxford.<ref>{{cite web |title=Mountfield, Helen |url=http://www.ukwhoswho.com/view/10.1093/ww/9780199540884.001.0001/ww-9780199540884-e-250874 |website=Who's Who 2018 |publisher=Oxford University Press|doi=10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.U250874 |date=1 December 2017|isbn=978-0-19-954088-4 }}</ref>

He died on 9 November 2011.<ref name="WWW" />

== Honours == Mountfield was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB) in the 1988 Birthday Honours<ref>{{London Gazette |issue= 51365 |date=10 June 1988 |page=3 |supp=y }}</ref> and was promoted to Knight Commander of the Order (KCB) in the 1999 New Year Honours shortly after his retirement.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue= 55354 |date=30 December 1998 |page=3 |supp=y }}</ref>

===Styles=== * Mr Robin Mountfield (1939–1988) * Mr Robin Mountfield CB (1998–1999) * Sir Robin Mountfield KCB (1999–2011)

== Offices held == {{s-start}} {{s-gov}}

{{s-bef | before=Richard Mottram | as=Permanent Secretary of the Office of Public Service and Science}} {{s-ttl | title=Permanent Secretary of the Office of Public Service, Cabinet Office | years=1995–1998}} {{s-aft | after=Himself | as=Permanent Secretary at the Cabinet Office}}

{{s-bef | before=Himself | as=Permanent Secretary of the Office of Public Service}} {{s-ttl | title=Permanent Secretary at the Cabinet Office | years=1998–1999}} {{s-aft | after=Brian Bender CB}} {{s-end}}

== References == {{reflist}}

== External links == * [https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/politics-obituaries/8892244/Sir-Robin-Mountfield.html "Obituary - Sir Robin Mountfield", ''The Telegraph'', 15 November 2011] * [http://www.essex.ac.uk/events/event.aspx?e_id=3703 "Obituary - Sir Robin Mountfield", University of Essex, 19 December 2011]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mountfield, Robin, Sir}} Category:1939 births Category:2011 deaths Category:Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath Category:Civil servants in the Cabinet Office Category:Permanent secretaries of the Cabinet Office Category:Private secretaries in the British Civil Service Category:People educated at Merchant Taylors' Boys' School, Crosby