Working Groups

ASYLUM WORKING GROUP

Julian Prior, Chairman
Julian Prior is the Project Director of Open Door (North East) an organisation that provides accommodation for failed asylum seekers who have become destitute in Tyneside. He is the author of a significant piece of research into this issue called ‘Destitute and Desperate’ (April 2006). On the basis of his research and first-hand experience, Julian has campaigned for change locally and nationally. Prior to working for Open Door, Julian was an Account Director for a number of leading advertising and marketing agencies in the North East.  

Bob Holman Vice-Chair
Retired Community Worker and former professor of Social Policy

Yeukai Taruvinga
Asylum Seeker

Louise Zanre
Director of Jesuit Refugee Service UK

Advisors

Jonathan Cox, Advisor to the Asylum Working Group
Parliamentary and External Relations Officer, Refugee Council

Gareth Morrell, Advisor to theAsylum Working Group
Information and Research Coordinator for the Information Centre about Asylum and Refugees

COURTS AND SENTENCING WORKING GROUP

Martin Howe QC, Chairman
Martin Howe is a practising Queen’s Counsel specialising in European law and intellectual property law, who conducts cases before the English courts, the European Court of Justice, and other European tribunals. He was appointed QC in 1996. He was called to the Bar (Middle Temple) in 1978. Before joining chambers Martin worked as a commercial and systems software programmer for IBM and for a software house, and continues to maintain an interest in evolving computer technology. 

Victoria Elvidge JP

Simon Pellew OBE
CEO, Time for Families

Helen Reeves, DBE
Former Chief Executive, Victim Support

His Honour Judge John Samuels QC (Retd.)
Chairman, Prisoners’ Education Trust

Enver Solomon
Deputy Director, Centre for Crime and Justice Studies, King’s College London

Tom Stancliffe
Former Secretary, Conservative Social Justice Policy Group

Malcolm Thomson
Project Manager, CLINKS

Advisors

Rob Allen
Director, International Centre for Prison Studies, King’s College London; Chairman, CLINKS

Professor Sir A.E. Bottoms
Emeritus Wolfson Professor of Criminology at Cambridge; Honorary Professor of Criminology at Sheffield

District Judge Daphne Wickham

ECONOMIC DEPENDENCY WORKING GROUP

Dr. Stephen Brien,Chairman
Dr Stephen Brien is a partner of Oliver Wyman and was Chairman of the Social Justice Policy Group Economic Dependency Working Group.

EARLY YEARS COMMISSION

CHAIRMAN
Dr Elly Farmer
Dr Farmer is a Chartered Clinical Psychologist who works part-time for the NSPCC, mainly in the fields of childhood sexual abuse and sexual bullying. She also works in an NHS adult substance misuse team where her therapeutic work is focussed on the resolution of childhood trauma. Her publications are in the areas of youth offending, therapy practice, and emotional dynamics. Elly is particularly passionate about healthy relationships for children and their families.

Maria Robinson
Independent adviser, consultant and lecturer in early years care and learning

Dr Margot Sunderland
Director of Education and Training, The Centre for Child Mental Health, London

Dr Elly Farmer
Chartered Clinical Psychologist, National Clinical Assessment and Treatment Service, NSPCC and Hillingdon Drugs and Alcohol Service, NHS

Melanie Gill
Child forensic psychologist, former Advisor of the Conservative Social Justice Policy Group

Benjamin Fry

FAMILY LAW REVIEW

CHAIRMAN
David Hodson 

David is an English family law solicitor, mediator, family arbitrator, Australian solicitor and mediator, and practices at The International Family Law Group, Covent Garden, London. He is a deputy District Judge at the Principal Registry of the Family Division, High Court, London

WORKING GROUP

Rebecca Bensted MA (Cantab)
Associate Principal Lecturer, BPP Law School

Philippa Taylor
Independent Consultant on bioethics and the family

Brenda Almond
Emeritus Professor of Moral and Social Philosophy, University of Hull

Helen Grant
Family Lawyer (Solicitor) and Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for Maidstone and The Weald, Senior Partner of Grants Solicitors LLP

Benjamin Fry
Psycotherapist and member of the British Association for Counselling and Psycotherapy

Dr Samantha Callan
Research and Policy Consultant Honorary Research fellow at Edinburgh University

Sheela Mackintosh
Family Lawyer (Barrister and Solicitor); Matrimonial Consultant and Coach of Divorce & Family Law Service; Conservative Party Approved Parliamentary Candidate; Law Society Mentor and Coach for Junior Lawyers; Trustee of the charity DrugFAM.

Richard Bruce
Educated at Epsom College and Bristol University, where he gained both a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Law, Richard Bruce was Called to the Bar by Gray’s Inn in 1974. For many years he maintained a broad common law practice but now covers solely Family work with a particular interest in ancillary relief.

He is the author of a text book on the general principles of English law published by John Murray in 1978 and now in its fifth edition. He was elected a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators in 1992 and appointed as a Recorder in 2002.

Rachel Gillman
Practising barrister since 1988, specialising in all aspects of family law both relating to money matters and children, with a particular commitment to representing less advantaged clients.

Advisors

Dr Andrew Bainham
Fellow and Reader in Family Law, Christ’s College, Cambridge Andrew is a Fellow of Christ’s College Cambridge and Reader in Family Law and Policy at the University of Cambridge. For over a decade he was editor of the International Survey of Family Law. He was a founder of the Cambridge Socio-Legal Group and co-edited four of their books, two of which deal with parentage and contact between children and parents. He also authored the leading textbook, Children: The Modern Law (3rd edition, 2005). Recently he has written an article entitled ‘Arguments about Parentage’, in the forthcoming number of the Cambridge Law Journal which is concerned in part with the arguments surrounding the parentage provisions of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill.

District Judge Nicholas Crichton,
Inner London Family Proceedings Court

Professor Patrick Parkinson,
Sydney Law School, University of Sydney, Australia

Patrons

Lady Elizabeth Butler-Sloss of Marsh Green

Baroness Ruth Deech of Cumnor

HOUSING WORKING GROUP 

Kate Davies, Chairman
Kate Davies joined Notting Hill Housing in mid-2004 following roles as Chief Executive of Servite Houses and Director of Housing in Brighton and Hove. She also has experience in local government and the private and voluntary sectors. She has two degrees and qualifications in housing management (MCIH) and housing association development. She is particularly interested in families, parenting, equality issues and regeneration. 

David Cowans
Group Chief Executive, Places for People

Cllr Angela Harvey
Chairman of Built Environment Overview & Scrutiny Committee, Westminster City Council

David Ireland
Chief Executive, Empty Homes Agency

Dr Peter King 
Reader in Social Thought, De Montfort University

Ferdinand Mount
Author and former head of No.10 Policy Unit

Malcolm Offord
Partner, Charterhouse Capital Partners

Dr Mark Pennington
Senior lecturer, Department of Politics, Queen Mary, University of London

Cllr Lee Rowley
Deputy Cabinet Member for Communities & Economic Development, Westminster City Council

Cameron Watt 
Deputy Director, the Centre for Social Justice

LOOKED AFTER CHILDREN WORKING GROUP

Ryan Robson, Chairman
Ryan Robson is a Partner of Sovereign Capital, an investment fund which supports the growth of education and social care groups. He has served as a Non-Executive Director of education and training organisations including Alpha Plus, a group of 20 independent schools and colleges and the SENAD Group which educates children with special educational needs and supports them into adulthood. Ryan is a Governor of the Alton School in Wandsworth and was a Councillor for Wandsworth from 2002-2006 and Chairman of its Education and Performance and Standards Committee. 

Ivor Frank L.L.B., L.L.M.
Human rights barrister and Trustee of the Frank Buttle Trust.

Simon Howlett
Education Consultant, Senior Coach and founder of Catalyst Coaching

Michael Bailey
Children's services director, founder member and director of Excel3

Susanna Cheal
Former Chief Executive of The Who Cares? Trust.

Harriet Sergeant 
Author of four reports for the Centre for Policy Studies: 'Welcome to the Asylum: immigration and asylum in the UK' (CPS 2001): 'No System to Abuse: immigration and health care in the UK (CPS 2003): 'Managing not to Manage: management in the NHS (CPS 2003): and 'Handle with Care: An investigation into the care system': (CPS 2006).

Malcolm Stevens
Director of Justice Care

Sarah Richardson
Cabinet Member for Children’s Services on Westminster City Council, writer for the Evening Standard and South-East candidate for the 2009 European Parliamentary elections.

POLICE REFORM WORKING GROUP

Ray Mallon, Chairman
Ray Mallon is serving his second term as the elected mayor of Middlesbrough. Before 2002, Ray spent 28 years as a police officer, rising through the ranks to become Detective Superintendent in charge of Criminal Investigation in Hartlepool and Middlesbrough in 1996. ‘Robocop’, as he came to be known in the press, cut crime in Middlesbrough by 20 per cent in 18 months through proactive policing and a focus on education and rehabilitation. Ray is a board member of the regeneration agency One NorthEast as well as a columnist for The Northern Echo. He used to play waterpolo for Great Britain. 

Professor Norman Dennis
Visiting Fellow at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne

Dr. David Green
Director of Civitas

Steve Green
Former Chief Constable of Nottinghamshire Police

Professor Ken Pease
Professor at the Midlands Centre for Criminology and Criminal Justice

Sir Charles Pollard
Former Chief Constable of Thames Valley Police

Professor Jonathan Shepherd
Director of the Violence & Society Research Group, University of Cardiff

Jimmy Watson
Senior Partner of Watson Woodhouse Solicitors

Advisor

Professor Lawrence Sherman
Wolfson Professor of Criminology, Cambridge University

Jan Berry
Former Chairman of the Police Federation

PRISON REFORM WORKING GROUP

Jonathan Aitken, Chairman
Jonathan Aitken is a former Conservative government minister who was jailed for perjury in 1999. He chronicled this life-changing experience in a two-part autobiography, Pride and Perjury, and Porridge and Passion. He is a Director of Prison Fellowship International and frequently visits prisons to talk to inmates. Jonathan’s experience of both politics and prison means he is uniquely qualified to lead the Prison Reform Policy Group. Jonathan has also written biographies of Richard Nixon and Charles Colson. 

Professor Rod Morgan
Professor Emeritus Bristol University; visiting professor at the London School of Economics; Co-editor, The Oxford Handbook of Criminology

Brian Kingham
Chairman, Reliance Security Group, Business Adviser to Restorative Solutions, Former Trustee of Crime Concern

Derek Sayer JP
Chairman of Regent Square Estates; Member of Lord Chancellors Advisory Committee; Ex Deputy Chairman Board of Visitors HMP Wormwood Scrubs; Trustee of Apex

Paul Cowley
Director of Social Transformation Holy Trinity Brompton; Director of Alpha for Prisons, Caring for Ex-Offenders and Alpha for Forces

Trevor Philpott OBE
Director of ‘Life Change UK’ training programmes; Founder and former Chief Executive of C-FAR

Erwin James
Former prisoner, now writes for the Guardian

Ann Creighton
Former Chief Executive, Prisoners Education Trust

Simon Edwards
Chief Executive of Mowgli, an international mentoring organisation; Former Chief Executive of Believe

Bernard Jenkin MP

Member of Parliament for North Essex, member of the Defence Select Committee

Stuart Mitson

Independent prison consultant, former Prison Governor 

YOUTH AND GANG CRIME WORKING GROUP

Simon Antrobus, Chairman
Simon Antrobus has over 20 years experience in the voluntary and community sector. He has held senior positions in a number of national voluntary organisations, including Scope, the Parkinson’s Disease Society and currently as Chief Executive of Clubs for Young People. Simon has served as acting Chairman of the National Council of Voluntary Youth Services and is currently its Vice-Chairman. 

Gracia McGrath
Chief Executive, Chance UK

Patrick Regan
Chief Executive Officer, XLP

Andy Smith
Chief Executive, Regenerate

Professor John Pitts
Vauxhall Professor of Socio-legal Studies, University of Bedfordshire

Ginny Lunn
Director of Policy and Development, Prince’s Trust

Tracie Trimmer-Platman
Senior Lecturer in Youth and Community Studies, University of East London, and advisor to London Youth

Steven Brooks
National Development Manager, Black Boys Can

Dr Howard Williamson
Professor of European Youth Policy, University of Glamorgan

Chris Stanley
Advisor to NACRO

Roger Reid
Project Manager, Ascension Trust