Department for Culture Media Sport

Polly Payne is Director General at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport on a job share basis, overseeing media, advertising, publishing, arts, creative industries, artificial intelligence, heritage, museums, cultural diplomacy, tourism and civil society. She previously served as Director General for Rail Group at the Department for Transport and held roles in higher education policy and economic strategy at HM Treasury and the Department for Business Innovation and Skills. Payne has worked internationally for the Asian Development Bank and the Overseas Development Institute.

Ruth Hannant became a Director General at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport in March 2021, sharing the role with Polly Payne, and the pair served as Interim Permanent Secretaries at DCMS in 2023. She previously held job-shared director-general and director roles at the Department for Transport, the Department for Education, and the Department for Business Innovation and Skills, and worked at HM Treasury. Earlier in her career she was a Deputy Director in the Shareholder Executive and began in the Department of Trade and Industry, with a secondment at HSBC Investment Bank.

Susannah Storey is the Permanent Secretary at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, where she leads the department. She previously served as Director General for Digital Technologies and Telecoms at the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, and as Director General for Digital and Media Policy at the former Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. Earlier in her career she was Director General at the Department for Exiting the European Union and held director roles at BEIS, DECC and UK Government Investments.