Edward Troup, who steps down at the end of 2017 as executive chair and permanent secretary of HM Revenue & Customs, receives a knighthood in the New Year honours list, one of many public servants to be recognised.

Troup turned from poacher to gamekeeper in 2004 when he left Simmons & Simmons to work on corporate tax policy in Gordon Brown’s Treasury, joining HMRC in 2012 as tax assurance commissioner. He oversaw the 2016 official inquiry into any wrongdoing arising from the Panama Papers tax leaks.



John Curtice, professor of politics at the University of Strathclyde, and the pollster who correctly predicted the outcome of the 2017 UK general election, also receives a knighthood, for services to social sciences and politics, as does statistician Professor Bernard Silverman, who was chief scientific adviser at the Home Office from 2010-2017.

Sir Christopher Geidt, who in July announced his resignation as private secretary to the Queen, and who was made a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (KCB) in 2014, now becomes a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath.



Philip Rutnam, permanent secretary at the Home Office, becomes a KCB. Rutnam was permanent secretary at the Department for Transport for five years before joining the Home Office in April. His predecessor at the Home Office, Mark Sedwill, who has been national security adviser since April 2017, also receives a knighthood, under the Order of St Michael and St George. Rutnam and Sedwill are among 19 former or present Home Office staff to receive honours. The former national security adviser, Sir Mark Lyall Grant, becomes a KCMG.

Professor Hilary Chapman, chief nurse at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, receives a damehood for services to nursing; Jackie Daniel, chief executive of the University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust, becomes a dame for services to healthcare; and surgeon Clare Marx, who was president of the Royal College of Surgeons until July 2017, also becomes a dame.

Angela Pedder, who worked for the NHS for 42 years, most recently as chief executive of the Devon success regime and sustainability and transformation plan, until her resignation in May, becomes a dame, as do Christine Ryan, the former chief executive of the Independent Schools Inspectorate, and Cathy Warwick, who stepped down in August as chief executive of the Royal College of Midwives.

Six civil servants are named Companions of the Order of the Bath: Ray Long, former programme director in the Department for Work and Pensions digital group; Howard Orme, chief financial and operating officer, at the Department for Education; David Prout, former director general of HS2 at the Department for Transport; David Rossington, former finance director at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, who leaves his job as director of the Office for Civil Society at the end of 2017; Stephen Speed, director, civil nuclear and resilience at the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy; and Nick Perry, permanent secretary in the Ministry of Justice in Northern Ireland.

Local government officers and politicians are also recognised in the honours list, including honours for several of those involved in organising Hull’s year as city of culture. .

CBEs

Many public servants receive CBEs in the honours list, including Paul Baumann, chief financial officer at NHS England; Professor David Bell, professor of economics at the University of Stirling, specialising in labour economics and fiscal federalism; Professor Diane Coyle, professor of economics in the school of social science at the University of Manchester; Sean Dennehey, deputy chief executive of the Intellectual Property Office; Janette Durbin, director of civil service talent, for services to diversity in the senior civil service; Elizabeth Dymond, director at the Charity for Civil Servants; and Phil Evans, head of DFID Somalia at the Department for International Development.

Hilary Garrett, head of nursing at NHS England receives a CBE, as do Mick Giannasi, chairman of the Welsh Ambulance service, and former chief constable of Gwent Police; Professor Paul Greg, professor of economic and social policy and director of the Centre for Analysis and Social Policy at the University of Bath, and a member of the Social Mobility Commission; and Denise Horsfall, work services director at the Department for Work and Pensions.

There are CBEs for Richard Lilford, professor of public health at Warwick University and director of the Collaboration for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care; Jim Martin, former Scottish public services ombudsman; Anne McGaughrin, legal director for Department for Education, Government Legal Department; Professor Andrew Morris, director, the Farr Institute in Scotland, director of Health Data Research UK, and former chief scientist at the Scottish government health directorates and Dr Joe Morrow, president of the Mental Health Tribunal, Scotland.

CBEs also go to Professor Philip Nelson, chief executive, Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council and chair, Research Councils UK; Dr Anne Rainsberry, regional director, London, NHS England; Hilary Reynolds, executive director, Research Councils UK; Howard Riddle, the former chief magistrate of England and Wales; Kevin Sadler, director of courts and tribunals development, HM Courts and Tribunals Service; and Alan Scott, deputy director, North West Prisons.

Alison Stanley, HR director, civil service employee policy; David Stephens, director of resources (Army), HM Armed Forces, Ministry of Defence; Andrea Sutcliffe, chief inspector of adult social care, Care Quality Commission; Deborah Walsh, deputy head of counter-terrorism at the Crown Prosecution Service; and Nick Whitfield, chief executive, Achieving for Children, all also receive CBEs.

OBEs

The public servants receiving OBEs in the honours list include Jackie Bene, chief executive of Bolton NHS Foundation Trust; Jim Boyle, head of infrastructure architecture at HM Revenue and Customs Telford; Dave Buttery, former deputy director for high speed rail at the Department for Transport; Geraldine Doherty, former registrar of the Scottish Social Services Council; and Nicolas Drinkal, deputy director of the Border Force at the Home Office.

Also receiving OBEs are Oliver Entwhistle, chair of the civil service Rainbow Alliance, the cross-departmental network for lesbian, gay and bisexual civil servants; Carol Garrett, national team leader of the National Trading Standards ports and borders team; David Greensmith, director of court services in Greater Manchester; Shabana Haque, head of the government science and engineering profession team; Paul Hayden, chair of the Anglian Eastern regional flood and coastal committee; Jeannine Hendrick, governor of Exeter prison; Nora Houston, senior delivery manager, HMRC; and Rilesh Jadeja, head of the access to work team at the Department for Work and Pensions.

Bill Kilby, deputy head of Afghanistan at the Department for International Development, receives an OBE, as do Paromita Konar-Thakkar, deputy director of energy economics and analysis at the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy; Deborah Lamb, deputy director of Historic England; Susan Lancioni, customer insight and analysis lead, HMRC; and Donna Leong, deputy director of consumer and competition policy, Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.

Robert Neil, head of Project Race at the Ministry of Justice, receives an OBE, as do Grace Nesbitt, head of the pensions division in the Department of Finance, Northern Ireland Executive; Antony Pritchard, deputy command secretary, Navy Command, Ministry of Defence; Jaswan Ramewal, Ministry of Defence; and Richard Rhodes, district manager, Essex, work services directorate, Department for Work and Pensions. There are also OBEs for Lesley Sawers, Equality and Human Rights Commissioner for Scotland and former chief executive of the Scottish Council for Development and Industry; David Thompson, head of the first world war and ceremonials team at the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport; Linda Willson, former head of maritime commerce and infrastructure at the Department for Transport; and Richard Wilson, head of the office of the chairman and chief executive, Maritime and Coastguard Agency.

The honours explained

Order of the Companion of Honour (CH)

For service of conspicuous national importance, held by only 65 people at a time.

Order of the Bath

For service of the highest calibre. It has civil and military divisions and is awarded in the ranks of Knight/Dame Grand Cross (GCB), Knight/Dame Commander (KCB/DCB) and Companion (CB).

Order of St Michael and St George

Awarded to British subjects for extraordinary and important services abroad or in the Commonwealth: Knight/Dame Grand Cross (GCMG), Knight/Dame Commander (KCMG/DCMG) and Companion (CMG).

Order of the British Empire

Awarded mainly to civilians and service personnel for public service and other distinctions: Knight/Dame Grand Cross (GBE), Knight/Dame Commander (KBE/DBE), Commander (CBE), Officer (OBE) and Member (MBE).

British Empire Medal (BEM)

The “people’s medal” is awarded for meritorious civil or military service

Sign up for your free Guardian Public Leaders newsletter with comment and sector views sent direct to you every month. Follow us: @Guardianpublic

Looking for a job in central or local government, or need to recruit public service staff? Take a look at Guardian Jobs