MARRE, SIR ALAN

MARRE, SIR ALAN (1914–1990), British civil servant. Alan Marre, the son of Joseph Moshinsky, a tobacconist in London's East End, won a scholarship to Cambridge and entered the British civil service in 1936. Marre rose in the administrative civil service to become second permanent under-secretary in the Home Office Department when, in 1971, he was appointed Britain's second ombudsman (officially, the parliamentary commissioner for administration), holding the post until 1976. As ombudsman, Marre investigated complaints of maladministration by government departments, an unusually sensitive post. In addition, in 1973–76 he was also the first health service commissioner, performing a similar role for the British health service. Marre also headed a number of other well-known investigations, especially the government inquiry into the welfare of children affected by thalidomide who had not benefited from previous financial settlements. He was knighted in 1970. -BIBLIOGRAPHY: ODNB online. (William D. Rubinstein (2nd ed.)