Sir Richard Nicholas Heaton, KCB (born 5 October 1965) is a barrister and former senior British civil servant who was the Permanent Secretary to the Ministry of Justice and Clerk of the Crown in Chancery from September 2015[1] until resigning in August 2020.

[4] In August 2012, he was additionally appointed Cabinet Office Permanent Secretary, taking over from Ian Watmore, splitting his time between the two roles.

[7] In his role as First Parliamentary Counsel he launched the Good Law initiative, seeking to reduce complexity in legislation.

[9] On 2 July 2015, it was announced that Heaton would leave the Cabinet Office to take up the position of Permanent Secretary to the Ministry of Justice (formally, the Clerk of the Crown in Chancery), replacing Dame Ursula Brennan on her retirement.

[14] In July 2020, it was announced that Heaton would leave the Civil Service as Permanent Secretary to the Ministry of Justice in August 2020.