FST JOURNAL

20 April 1933 – 30 January 2024

After a highly successful career as a civil servant, rising to the rank of Permanent Secretary, Geoffrey Chipperfield built a second career in which he put to the service of commerce, science and academia the wide experience and knowledge acquired during his years of service to Governments of differing political complexions.

Geoffrey Chipperfield was educated at Cranleigh and New College Oxford. After leaving Oxford he was called to the Bar at Gray’s Inn in 1955. In 1956 he entered the Administrative Class of the Civil Service in the then Ministry of Housing and Local Government. He rose rapidly through the ranks of that Department, becoming a Deputy Secretary in 1982, having served in a variety of posts, including Principal Private Secretary to the Minister of Housing and Secretary of the Greater London Development Plan Inquiry (1970 to 1973).

In 1987, as a Deputy Secretary, he moved to the Department of Energy.   After no more than two years facing totally new and even more challenging responsibilities (not least dealing with the aftermath of the Piper Alpha North Sea oil rig disaster of 1988) he became the Permanent Secretary of that Department. Fresh challenges awaited him only two years later when he was moved to the Property Services Agency, steering that organisation which looked after the Government’s real estate, from public ownership into the private sector.

The compulsory retirement of civil servants at the age of 60 meant that his administrative and managerial talents became available for use in many other walks of life. Among the most significant were Higher Education and Science. In 1998 he was appointed Pro-Chancellor of Kent University, serving with such distinction that a building there now carries his name. In 2003 he joined the Council of the Foundation for Science and Technology and remained in that position until 2016. During that time he performed the important task of compiling the reports of the Foundation’s dinner-discussions, ensuring that the views of those present were conveyed in a coherent and authoritative way to Government and society at large. Geoffrey Chipperfield’s skills as a civil servant proved well-tailored to the needs of clear and persuasive communication between scientists and policy makers. He also served as a non-executive director, and subsequently Deputy Chairman, of South West Water.

Geoffrey Chipperfield was awarded the CB in 1985 and appointed KCB in 1992. He was a keen walker, gardener and supporter of the arts and music. He died after a long illness and is survived by his wife Gillian whom he married in 1959.