Government Actuary's Department


The Government Actuary’s Department provides actuarial solutions including risk analysis, modelling and advice to support the UK public sector. It is a department of the Government of the United Kingdom.
GAD applies the actuarial profession's technical skills, consultancy discipline, high standards of professionalism and industry sector knowledge to solve financial challenges faced by the UK public sector.
The department is part of the analysis function in government responsible for providing actuarial advice to public sector clients.
Its mission is to improve the stewardship of the public sector finances by supporting effective decision-making and robust financial reporting through actuarial analysis, modelling and advice.
Five-year strategy
The GAD 2025 Strategy focuses on 4 main areas; clients, people, inclusion and processes, setting out aims and priorities in each section.
GAD provides actuarial and specialist analysis, advice and assurance in:
In 1912 the Government appointed a chief actuary to the National Health Insurance Joint Committee, following the Old Age Pensions Act 1908 and the National Insurance Act 1911. As the role of the Chief Actuary expanded, the post of Government Actuary was created in 1917. The Government Actuary's Department was formed 2 years later.
The role of GAD within government expanded significantly in the 1940s and 1950s, coinciding with an expansion of the state’s role in pensions, social security and health care.
By the 1980s GAD had grown into a significant actuarial consultancy within government and in 1989 the financing of GAD through an annual Parliamentary vote of funds was replaced by a system of directly charging users of GAD’s services. The calculation of GAD's fees is based solely on the recovery of its costs.
GAD has about 200 people across 2 offices, of whom around 165 are actuaries and analysts.

List of government actuaries

The government actuary is the individual actuary that is responsible for the overall running and leadership of GAD. The holders of this role have been:

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from: 1917 till: 1936 color:former text:"Alfred Watson"
bar:Epps
from: 1936 till: 1944 color:former text:"George Epps"
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from: 1944 till: 1946 color:former text:"Percy Harvey"
bar:Maddex
from: 1946 till: 1958 color:former text:"George Maddex"
bar:Tetley
from: 1958 till: 1973 color:former text:"Herbert Tetley"
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from: 1973 till: 1989 color:former text:"Edward Johnston"
bar:Daykin
from: 1989 till: 2007 color:former text:"Christopher Daykin"
bar:Llanwarne
from: 2008 till: 2014 color:former text:"Trevor Llanwarne"
bar:Clarke
from: 2014 till: 2020 color:current text:"Martin Clarke"