In a … "We had concluded it was time to split the jobs again and have a separate security adviser and separate cabinet secretary," he added. Sir Mark Philip Sedwill KCMG FRGS (born 21 October 1964) is a British diplomat, public policy analyst and senior civil servant who has served as Cabinet Secretary … Sir Mark said the timing was "at his initiative", as it was "never my intention to do that [job] long-term", but the departure was "entirely amicable".The UK's chief negotiator in post-Brexit trade talks with the EU, David Frost, will take over as national security adviser as a political appointee.The Cabinet Office has published a job advert for the cabinet secretary position, with a salary of £200,000, and the role is open to current and former permanent secretaries.The person who gets the position will advise the prime minister on implementing policy and the conduct of government.Dominic Cummings, regarded as the prime minister's most influential political adviser, has long called for an overhaul of the civil service.Sir Mark is a career diplomat who served as Ambassador to Afghanistan during a 20-year career in the Foreign Office, before working alongside former Prime Minister Theresa May as the most senior civil servant in the Home Office.He took over as cabinet secretary at short notice following Asked about reports of anonymous briefings from Downing Street against him, Sir Mark told the committee that civil servants had become "fair game" and it "goes with the territory".He added: "It is never pleasant to find oneself, particularly as an official, in the midst of stories of that kind. Sir Mark Sedwill said he … "Surface Studio, Surface Laptop, Surface Pro: what's the difference? Cabinet Secretary Sir Mark Sedwill was the country’s top civil servant and the most powerful official in Government. Cabinet Secretary Sir Mark Sedwill was the country’s top civil servant and the most powerful official in Government.The 54-year-old former diplomat was appointed to the role in 2018 when he was already the national security adviser.Critics, including former chancellor George Osborne, questioned the sustainability of the grammar school and Oxford-educated civil servant handling the two roles.On Sunday June 28 2020 Sir Mark announced he will stand down from his role as Cabinet Secretary, National Security Adviser and head of the Civil Service in September.Dubbed the ultimate “securocrat”, Sir Mark became the civil service’s highest-ranking official after running the Home Office between 2013 and 2017.He was a trusted lieutenant of Theresa May when she was PM and sat in her dwindling trusted inner circle after working with her for years at the Home Office.As Permanent Secretary, Sir Mark oversaw the establishment of the troubled inquiry into the department’s handling of allegations about paedophile activity between the 1970s and 1990s.He was also forced to tackle fall-out from the termination of a contract to provide the controversial eBorders programme, when a tribunal ruled the Government should pay out more than £220 million to a US defence firm.In 2018, he played a role in the response to the poisoning of the Skripals in Salisbury.Known as a keen golfer, windsurfer and scuba-diver, Sir Mark has also been at the centre of Brexit preparations in Whitehall.In April 2019, the Daily Mail claimed to have gained a copy of a 14-page letter the Cabinet Secretary sent to ministers warning them of the consequences of a no-deal Brexit.He rose to the defence of the Prime Minister’s Europe adviser Olly Robbins following criticism from Eurosceptics he was thwarting the Brexit process.Also last year, current Education Secretary Gavin Williamson accused Mrs May and Sir Mark of badly mishandling the investigation into the leak of information from a top-secret meeting of the National Security Council and called for a probe into it.Mr Williamson was sacked from his role of defence secretary over his alleged involvement in the leak of information about Chinese tech giant Huawei.Sir Mark was said to be furious at the leak and his investigation was reportedly uncompromising in its dealing with Cabinet ministers and aides, hauling them in for interviews, issuing questionnaires and demanding they hand over mobile phones.Mr Williamson and his allies claimed his eventual toppling was part of a vendetta pursued against him by Sir Mark.The pair were reported to have had a series of clashes during Mr Williamson’s time at the Ministry of Defence (MoD).In an interview with the Civil Service Quarterly in February 2019, Sir Mark admitted he had an “unusual” background for a Cabinet Secretary having spent much of his career overseas.He joined the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) in 1989, serving in Egypt, Iraq, Cyprus and Pakistan before becoming ambassador to Afghanistan in 2009.He later worked as the Nato Senior Civilian Representative in the conflict-hit country before becoming FCO political director in 2012.Sir Mark studied at St Andrews and Oxford universities and is married with one daughter.He was knighted in the 2017 New Year honours list for services to national security. 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"After he leaves government service in September, Sir Mark will be made a peer and will chair a new panel on global economic security when the UK assumes the presidency of the G7 economic group of nations.The move comes after 66 new cases of coronavirus were recorded in the Greater Glasgow and Clyde area. Media caption Sir Mark Sedwill: The decision to stand down was "amicable". The UK's top civil servant will receive a payout of almost £250,000 when he steps down in September. Sir Mark Sedwill confirmed he was leaving Whitehall last month as Boris Johnson announced plans to split his role as cabinet secretary and national security adviser into two posts.His exit follows reports of tensions between him and senior members of Mr Johnson's team in Downing Street.On Wednesday, the PM signed off the £248,189 pension contribution.The amount was recommended by Cabinet Office Permanent Secretary Alex Chisholm, with advice from Civil Service Human Resources and legal advisers, before being agreed by Mr Johnson. Over a quarter of parents say they are not ready to send their child back to school, according to a survey of 3,400 parents by charity Parentkind. The Oxford-educated diplomat has …