Tributes paid to Lord Bob Kerslake

Lord Bob Kerslake, the former chief executive of Sheffield City Council and head of the civil service, has died from cancer aged 68, his family said in a statement.

On Sunday morning, his sister, Ros Kerslake, tweeted: “My brother Bob (Lord Robert Kerslake) died yesterday after a short battle with cancer. We are all devastated.”

He became chief executive of Sheffield City Council in 1997, and then the Homes and Communities Agency – now Homes England.

He was head of the civil service from January 2012 to September 2014, and continued as a permanent secretary at the Department for Communities and Local Government.

He was made a peer by David Cameron in 2015 and sat as a crossbencher in the House of Lords.

Kerslake served as chair of King’s College hospital NHS foundation trust, before he resigned in 2017 in protest at government underfunding of hospitals. He was also outspoken on regional inequality and chaired the 2070 Commission which concluded that 50 years of bias towards London has left the UK a deeply divided country and needed a national renewal fund along the lines of Germany’s East-West reunification strategy.

In July 2017, he was appointed as the chair of the independent investigation of the Manchester Arena bombing. The results of the investigation, commonly referred to as the Kerslake Report, were published in March 2018.

He was knighted in the 2005 New Year honours list for services to local government.

Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham invited him to chair the Stockport Mayoral Development Corporation in January 2020 describing it as “a major coup”. He had previously invited Lord Kerslake to chair the first inquiry into the response to the Manchester Arena terror attack of 2017.

Stockport’s leader Elise Wilson, who continued to work with Kerslake in his work with the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority said: “It’s so sad, Bob was fundamentally such a decent person. He was kind, committed and had tons of integrity. I’ll really miss him and so will anyone who had the honour of working with him.”

A former head of the UK Civil Service, he was also working with the Labour Party on advising them how to transition into government.

Deputy leader of the Labour Party, Angela Rayner said: “So very sad to learn of the passing of Bob Kerslake. A devoted public servant, he was a good, kind and principled man, generous with his time and full of wisdom. My thoughts are with his family, friends and all who knew him.”

London Mayor, Sadiq Khan, wrote on Twitter: “Lord Bob Kerslake was a true public servant. His kindness and commitment to improving our city and country will always be remembered.”

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said: “Bob was a talented public servant, utmost professional, and a good man. He was rightly respected across Westminster for his experience and wisdom, and I’m grateful for his recent contributions to the Labour Party. Sincere condolences to his family.”

Professor Sir Chris Husbands, Vice-Chancellor of Sheffield Hallam University, where he was chair of Governors, said: “I am so terribly sad to hear the news of Bob’s death. Bob was an exceptional chair of the University’s Board of Governors. He mastered both strategy and detail, long-term and short-term. He was committed to the University’s mission and success, and he gave generously of his time in support of both. Nothing escaped him, which made him a stimulating chair who met the highest standards. He had been an outstanding Chief Executive of Sheffield City Council before he assumed national roles and knew the city inside out. He knew more about how organisations worked and how they responded to policy than anyone else I have ever met, and he cared passionately about addressing inequality and creating opportunities.

 “It was one of the privileges of my life to have the opportunity to work with him: both on higher education and public policy, and on leading a great University to success. He was a chair, but also a mentor and friend. He was a unique voice in national life: his integrity and commitment to public service were unique. The word ‘irreplaceable’ is over-used but given our challenges as a city and a nation, Bob Kerslake was irreplaceable.”

Housing group Peabody Trust, which he chaired, said in a statement: “Everyone who knew Bob was truly inspired by his exceptional talent, strong work ethic, and above all, his humanity and kindness to everyone he met. He was a remarkable individual who worked tirelessly to improve people’s lives and to stand up for what is right.