Top MoD civil servant to leave in wake of Afghan data breach

The chief civil servant at the Ministry of Defence will be replaced in the wake of the Afghan data breach, the department has announced.

The move follows one of the worst UK data breaches for decades being revealed to the public last month, in a major embarrassment for defence and intelligence services.

The leak, which went undetected for months and was then subject to a super-injunction, put the identities of British spies, soldiers, and vulnerable Afghan allies at risk.

Permanent Secretary David Williams will leave this autumn and recruitment for his successor has started, the MoD confirmed.

The breach happened in February 2022, when an official working at UK Special Forces headquarters inadvertently emailed out a spreadsheet containing the personal details of almost 19,000 people seeking refuge from the Taliban in the UK.

Information identifying more than 100 UK officials were also compromised, some of whom were MI6 staff or special forces soldiers who had given information linked to the applications made by individual Afghans.

Mr Williams was the most senior civil servant in the department at the time of the leak.

The BBC understands that Defence Secretary John Healey had a "conversation" with Mr Williams before the breach became public knowledge in mid-July and "made clear that this was the right time to make a change".

A source told the BBC that it was usual for permanent secretaries running government departments to serve for about five years. Mr Williams has been in post since 2021.

The source told the BBC that this was "an appropriate time for a transition" as the recent Defence Review has led to a major restructuring including the appointments of new figures to other senior roles.

In June the government appointed a new chief of defence staff with new powers. It has also created the new post of national armaments director and established a new Military Strategic Headquarters.

The government is advertising the post of permanent secretary at the MoD externally.

The source told the BBC that the aim was to attract "successful, ambitious people" from outside government to apply, adding that would ideally include those with "senior commercial experience, or corporate leaders who have experience of driving change in big organisations, and of major procurement, handling big budgets, and delivering efficiencies".

In a statement an MoD spokesperson said "Since 2021, David has led the department through a period of significant activity, and we thank him for his contribution."

Labour MP and chairman of the defence select committee, Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi, said Mr Williams' "many years of dedicated public service deserve respect", notwithstanding the seriousness of the leak.

"While our committee has agreed to inquire into this shocking situation, we have yet to determine the full scope for that, including who will be called to give evidence," he added.

"The fact that this breach has put at risk our courageous British service personnel and the Afghans who bravely supported them, makes the situation even more shocking.

"I am sure the committee will want to investigate and understand how this could have been allowed to happen."