Guidance

Appointments made: April 2025 to May 2026

Updated 11 June 2025

Applies to England

June 2025

Ofsted: Chair

Dame Christine Gilbert has been appointed to serve as Chair of the Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills (Ofsted). Her appointment will begin on 1 September 2025 and will be for a period of 3 years. Remuneration is £55,000 per annum for a time commitment of 2 days a week.

Details of board members’ interests are published annually in Ofsted’s annual report and accounts.

Dame Christine has declared the following interests:

• Chair and trustee, Education Endowment Foundation
• Independent chair and director of Camden Learning
• CGA: education and public services consultancy
• Joint chair of Association of Area-based Education Partnerships (AEPA)
• Visiting Professor at UCL, Institute of Education

She has not declared any political activity.

Ofsted inspects services providing education and skills for learners of all ages. It also inspects and regulates services that care for children and young people. The appointment is made by the Secretary of State for Education.

May 2025 

Office for Students: non-executive board member appointment 

Neil Swift has been appointed by exception to serve on the Office for Students (OfS) board. He will serve from 1 May 2025 for a period of 6 months. This appointment has been made to allow the OfS to remain lawfully constituted, as per the requirements in the Higher Education and Research Act 2017 schedule 1 (2)1, whilst a full public appointments process is undertaken. 

Neil Swift will bring extensive public sector governance experience to the board and his background in regulation, accounting and finance will be a welcome addition. 

Remuneration is £9,180 per annum for an estimated time commitment of 20 days per annum. 

Neil has not declared any interests or any political activity. 

The OfS is an arms-length body of DfE and the regulator of higher education in England.

Skills England: board members 

Andy Westwood, Anthony Impey, Brian Holliday, Fazal Dad, Fiona Aldridge, Fiona Kendrick, Helen Woodward Davies, Nichola Hay, Sara Todd, Sian Elliott and Zoe Lewis have been appointed as non-executive board members to serve on the Skills England board.  

Remuneration is £15,000 per annum for a time commitment of 20 days a year.  

Anthony Impey, Fiona Kendrick, Sara Todd, and Zoe Lewis will serve from May 2025 for a period of 2 years. Andy Westwood, Brian Holliday, Fazal Dad, Fiona Aldridge, Helen Woodward Davies, Nichola Hay, and Sian Elliott will serve from May 2025 for a period of 3 years. 

Andy Westwood has declared the following interests: 

Paid Roles 

• Professor of Public Policy, Government & Business, University of Manchester 

• Policy Director, Productivity Institute, University of Manchester 

• Independent Governor, University of Wolverhampton 

• Expert adviser, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) 

• Policy Fellow, Labour Together (November 2023 to May 2024) 

• Special Adviser to Secretary of State, Department for Innovation, Universities & Skills and Senior Policy Adviser to Secretary of State, Department for Communities and Local Government (2007 to 2010) 

• Senior Policy Adviser, His Majesty’s Treasury (2005 to 2007)  

• Policy Adviser, Department for Education & Employment (2000 to 2002) 

Unpaid Roles 

• Trustee, Architectural Heritage Fund  

• Governor, National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR)  

• Advisory Board Member, Bennett Institute for Public Policy, University of Cambridge  

Anthony Impey has declared the following interests:  

Financial Interests 

Anthony has declared his financial interest in Optimity Holdings Ltd, IT Services, as a shareholder.  

Paid Roles 

• Chief Executive, Be the Business 

• Director, Optimity Holdings Ltd 

Unpaid Roles 

• Director, V&A Impey Ltd  

• Director and Company Secretary, 78 Meadow Road Management Ltd  

• Chair, Industry Skills Board, City & Guilds  

• Chair, DfE Apprenticeship Ambassador Network  

• Chair, UCL International Advisory Board  

Brian Holliday has declared the following interests: 

Financial Interests 

Brian has declared his financial interest in Siemens AG. Engineering Company as an employee share scheme beneficiary. 

Paid Roles   

• Managing Director for Digital Industries Division, UK and Ireland, Siemens plc. 

• Chairman of the Board, Siemens Industry Software (2009 to 2025) 

• Board member of the High Value Manufacturing Catapult (2014 to 2022)  

Unpaid Roles 

• Co-Chair of Made Smarter Commission  

• Chair of Make UK, Strategic Policy Group  

• Committee Member, The Royal Society (2016 to 2022) 

• Main Board Member, Make UK (2015 to 2024) 

Dr Fazal Dad has declared the following interests:  

Paid Roles 

• Principal and CEO of Blackburn College  

• Part-time Inspector, Ofsted 

Unpaid Roles 

• Trustee, The Peel Foundation Scholarship Fund 

• Trustee, The Agnes Eccles Art Award Fund  

• Director and Board Member, The Bury Grammar Schools Trustee Limited  

• Director, The Lancashire Colleges Limited  

• Non-Executive Director, The Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education  

Dr Fiona Aldridge has declared the following interests: 

Paid Roles 

• Chief Executive, Skills Federation 

• Head of Insight and Intelligence, West Midlands Combined Authority (2021 to 2024) 

• Director of Policy & Research, Learning and Work Institute (1997 to 2021) 

Unpaid Roles 

• Member, Mayor of the West Midlands’ Council of Experts  

• Member, Advisory Board, DWP Employment DataLab  

• Member, Advisory Board, Lifelong Education Institute  

• Member, External Advisory Group Unit for Future Skills (2022 to 2024) 

Dame Fiona Kendrick has declared the following interests: 

Paid Roles 

• Member, PWC Advisory Council 

• Senior Advisor, Newton Europe 

• Deputy Chair, the Institute for Apprenticeship and Technical Education Board (2017 to 2025)  

Helen Woodward Davies has declared the following interests:  

Paid Roles 

• Resource Programme Director, EDF Nuclear New Build at Hinkley Point C  

Unpaid Roles 

• Trustee, Engineering Construction Industry Training Board 

• Volunteer, Youth Justice & Exploitation Service 

Nicki Hay has declared the following interests:  

Financial Interests 

Nicki has declared her financial interest in BPP Education Group as a shareholder.   

Paid Roles 

• Director of Strategy and Policy, BPP Education Group 

Unpaid Roles 

• Board Director and Chair, Association of Employment and Learning Providers 

• Trustee, WorldSkills UK  

Sara Todd has declared the following interests: 

Paid Roles 

• Chief Executive, Trafford Council 

• Place Lead, Health and Care Integration, NHS Greater Manchester 

Unpaid Roles 

• Chief Executive Portfolio Holder for Technical Education, Work and Skills, Greater Manchester Combined Authority  

• Trustee, Trafford Community Collective  

• Trustee, City in the Community Foundation  

Sian Elliott has declared the following interests: 

Paid Roles 

• Director of Organising, Public Services and Skills, The Trades Union Congress (TUC) 

Unpaid Roles 

• Expert Advisor, Solace Women’s Aid  

Zoe Lewis has declared the following interests: 

Paid Roles 

• CEO and Board member, Middlesbrough College and its subsidiaries.  

Unpaid Roles 

• Trustee, Education Endowment Foundation  

• Regional Trust member, Outwood Academy (Northern region) 

• Member, FE Commissioner’s Principals Reference Group 

• Chair, the Accountability and Funding Group, Association of Colleges (AoC) 

• Member, the 2030 group, AoC 

None of the appointees have declared any political activity. 

Skills England is an executive agency in the Department for Education. Board member appointments are made by the Secretary of State for Education.

April 2025

Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel: panel chair

David Holmes will serve as panel chair for the Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel from 23 June 2025 for a period of 4 years.

Remuneration is £500 a day for an estimated time commitment of 144 days a year.

David declares the following interests:

• Chief Executive of Family Action
• Trustee of Westminster Foundation
• Committee member of Big Issue Invest

He has not declared any political activity.

The Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel is an independent panel commissioning reviews of serious child safeguarding cases. The panel want national and local reviews to focus on:

• improving learning
• professional practice
• outcomes for children

Further Education Commissioner: Deputy FE Commissioner

Frances Wadsworth’s appointment as Deputy FE Commissioner has been extended for 9 months from 1 May 2025.

Remuneration is £700 per day, for a time commitment of up to 200 days per year.

Frances declares the following interests:

• board member for Ofqual
• advisor on Thames Valley Advisory Committee, Justices of the Peace

She has not declared any political activity.

The Further Education Commissioner’s team provide active support to FE colleges and help to improve quality and financial resilience where needed.