Panel Members
Sir Derek Myers
Chair of the Independent Panel
Sir Derek was the Lead Commissioner for Rotherham Council from 2015-2017. He was appointed by the UK Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government following the Jay Inquiry into child exploitation in that borough.
Before this, Sir Derek was the first joint Chief Executive of two London Borough councils, Kensington and Chelsea and Hammersmith and Fulham from 2011 to 2013 and was a non-executive director at the UK Department of Health and subsequently Public Health England. Prior to that, he was Chief Executive of Kensington and Chelsea (2000 – December 2013) and Director of Social Services - then Chief Executive - at the London Borough of Hounslow.
He is also a former chairman of the Society of Local Authority Chief Executives (2008 – October 2012) and a former non-executive director at the Department of Health. He was knighted in the Queens Honours list in 2014.
Professor Maggie Rae
Panel Member
Maggie Rae is currently the President of the Faculty of Public Health (FPH). In her role as President, she works closely with the Academy of Royal Medical Colleges, Local Government Association and a wide range of partner agencies who have interests in Public Health.
She is also President of the Epidemiological and Public Health Section of the Royal Society of Public Health
She has particular interests in health inequalities, sustainable development, workforce, education and standards setting for Public Health. She is Head of the South West Academy of Population and Public Health for Health Education England.
Her personal research interests include Health Protection, Pandemic Management Health Inequalities, Climate Change and the impacts of the wider determinants of health. She is also passionate about education and training and sees this as a key element of FPH’s responsibilities.
Maggie is a Visiting Professor of Public Health, at both the University of the West of England and Exeter University and has extensive experience of working at all levels in public health. She has twice been a Director of Public Health. She also led on Health Inequalities and Local Delivery at the Department of Health and worked at the National Institute of Health and Social Care (NICE ).
Sir Richard Gozney
Panel Member
Sir Richard was Lieutenant Governor of the Isle of Man from 2016-2021, including for the first 18 months of the Covid pandemic, until August 2021.
His career as a British diplomat for 39 years included extensive work with the Falkland Islands and Gibraltar in the 1970s and 1980s. He was Private Secretary (‘Bernard’ in the Yes Minister television programme) to the UK’s Foreign and Commonwealth Secretaries during four years, serving Sir Geoffrey Howe, Mr John Major and Mr Douglas Hurd.
British Ambassador to Indonesia and then High Commissioner to Nigeria in the 2000s, in his last diplomatic posting, from 2007-2012, he was Governor of Bermuda, where the Governor’s role includes appointing and then supporting the senior judges, the Police Commissioners, the Prosecutor and the Auditor-General.
Ian Hickman
Executive Officer
Ian is a highly experienced leader with extensive knowledge of UK public services. Much of his work has been at a national level focused on effective governance, service efficiency and value for money. In 2016 he was appointed by the UK Secretary of State for Education to both the Management Board and the Audit Committee of the Education and Skills Funding Agency.
Alongside this he has worked as an independent consultant running the London Leadership Programme, which between 2017 and 2020 helped 150 senior local government leaders across London broaden their skills and knowledge.
He has also been a member of two important Reviews. In 2014 as part of the Kerslake Review of Birmingham City Council and in 2016 the London Councils Challenge Review.
Between 2014 and 2017 Ian was Chief Operating Officer at the Northern Education Trust, helping develop it into a 20 school £100m organisation across the north of the UK.
From 2000 to 2015 he worked in a range of policy and research Director roles for the Audit Commission eventually ending up as their Associate Controller for three years.During this time he was also seconded for a year to the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister.