Permanent secretary Jonathan Slater will stand down because Johnson decided “there is a need for fresh official leadership”.
Image: PA Images Image: PA Images UK PRIME MINISTER Boris Johnson faced a backlash after he sought to blame the A-level results fiasco on a “mutant algorithm” and effectively sacked the senior civil servant at the Department for Education.
Labour accused Johnson of trying to avoid taking responsibility for a “shambles” caused by his government’s “incompetence”. “Responsibility for this shambles lies squarely with Downing Street and the Department for Education, who set out how they wanted the algorithm to work and were warned weeks in advance of issues, but repeatedly refused to address the problems they had created.Kevin Courtney, joint general secretary of the National Education Union, said: “It is brazen of the Prime Minister to idly shrug away a disaster that his own Government created.
Susan Acland-Hood, currently interim second permanent secretary, will take over as acting permanent secretary.