Bob Kerslake, former head of the UK civil service, dies aged 68

Bob Kerslake was head of the civil service from January 2012 to September 2014. Photograph: Rex/Shutterstock

Bob Kerslake, a former head of the UK’s civil service and permanent secretary at the Department for Communities and Local Government, has died after being diagnosed with cancer, his family have announced.

The crossbench peer died on Saturday aged 68. 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.”