Who we are

Sir David Holmes CBE was appointed as Chair of the Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel in June 2025. He is currently Chief Executive of Family Action, a charity which provides support to children and families.

David holds a range of practice, leadership and philanthropic posts, including as:

• a member of the Cross Government Advisory Group on Family Policy and the 10 Year Health Plan Partners Council
• a trustee of the Westminster Foundation
• Vice Patron of Naomi House and Jack’s Place, a hospice group for children and young people

David is a former practising solicitor and has previously worked in senior leadership across several organisations for children and families, including as:

• Deputy Director, Children and Young People’s Service, Haringey Council
• Deputy Director/Head of Adoption and Looked After Children, Department for Education
• Deputy Director/Head of Adoption and Children’s Trusts, Department of Health
• Chief Executive, British Association for Adoption and Fostering

David was made CBE for Services to Children and Families in the New Year Honours 2014 and was knighted for Services to Children and Families in the New Year Honours 2024.

Jacqui was appointed to the Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel in November 2025 for a period of 4 years.

Jacqui has worked in Youth Justice since 2000 and has been the Head of Youth Justice at Stockport Council for over 20 years, leading this and other adolescent services, including the merger with Complex Safeguarding. Working with the Greater Manchester Combined Authority, she holds several portfolios on behalf of Greater Manchester Youth Justice. This includes working with Greater Manchester Police on child-centred policing, leading on children in police custody, and the Greater Manchester appropriate adult provision.

Jacqui has been Chair of the Association of Youth Offending Team Managers (AYM), a sector-based body representing youth justice services across England for the past 3 years, up to June 2025. She remains a member of the AYM Executive.

Jacqui is a trained peer reviewer and has led several youth justice peer reviews across England and Wales. She has been the representative on a number of national advisory boards, including the Youth Endowment Fund Strategic Diversion Board. She is currently an advisor for the Youth Justice Legal Centre.

Jacqui was awarded an MBE in the King’s Birthday Honours List 2024 for services to youth justice.

Jenny was appointed to the Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel in December 2021. She was reappointed in November 2025 for a period of 4 years.

Jenny is a qualified social worker and has been a senior manager in local authority children’s services since 1997. She has worked extensively in children’s safeguarding, looked after children and quality assurance, and has also managed integrated youth and youth justice services, education and special educational needs and disability services.

Jenny became Director of Children’s Services in Hertfordshire County Council in 2010 and retired in August 2021. She was also President of the Association of Directors of Children’s Services from April 2020 to April 2021.

Ian has 32 years policing experience working in Lancashire and 7 in Merseyside, the last 2 of which were as the deputy chief constable.

He is currently working for the College of Policing, National Police Chiefs’ Council, and with the Home Office as the strategic implementation lead for a National Centre for Violence Against Women and Girls and Public Protection to raise standards across policing.

Ian was head of public protection in Lancashire for 4 years and sat as an executive member on 3 safeguarding boards. He has extensive command experience, leading investigations into homicide, child sexual abuse, and significant critical firearms incidents in Merseyside.

He has been the national policing lead for child protection for the last 3 years:

• providing strategic leadership for the Hydrant programme and Child Sexual Exploitation Taskforce
• working with policing and the National Crime Agency in developing the response to stop online child abuse

He has given evidence in relation to child protection and safeguarding to:

• the Home Affairs Committee
• the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse
• several parliamentary inquiries

Jahnine is the National Kinship Care Ambassador and a member of the Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel. First appointed to the panel in November 2021 and reappointed in November 2025 for a further 3 years. She brings 28 years of experience across charities, statutory services, and academia. Jahnine holds a Master’s in Women and Child Abuse and a PhD focused on safeguarding Black children when harm occurs in and outside the home.

Known for her research and leadership on adultification bias, she has shaped national policy and guidance influencing practice across children’s services. Jahnine is Director of Listen Up, an organisation dedicated to Black and marginalised children. She was awarded the Children and Young People’s Champion title in 2025 for her commitment to safeguarding and advancing children’s rights. This is further reflected in the Davis Scholarship at Durham University named in her honour, to support care-experienced students into higher education.

Victoria was appointed to the Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel in November 2025.

Victoria has been a qualified teacher for 26 years. She has 14 years of school leadership experience in the primary school sector, including headteacher, safeguarding lead and multi-academy trust leadership.

Victoria is an NSPCC accredited trainer and has extensive experience in designing and delivering child protection training to education practitioners. She is also a trained safeguarding supervisor, providing supervision support to designated safeguarding leads.

Currently, Victoria is Trust Safeguarding and Professional Development Lead for the Inspiring Futures Partnership Trust, overseeing the safeguarding leads across 4 academies in Buckinghamshire.

Codrutza was appointed to the Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel in November 2025 for a period of 4 years.

Codrutza is a qualified social worker with over 28 years of experience in children’s social care. She has worked across a wide range of roles from practitioner and team manager to senior leader.

Her experience spans both charity and local authority sectors. This includes statutory safeguarding services for children in need of help and protection, as well as corporate parenting services supporting care-experienced children and young people.

Codrutza was Assistant Director for Children’s Social Care, Corporate Parenting and Youth Justice in Suffolk from 2022 to 2025. She previously led frontline services, professional development and quality assurance.

Sally was appointed to the Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel in July 2022 and was reappointed in November 2025 for a period of 3 years.

Sally is a Registered Children’s Nurse. She has 42 years of experience in the NHS, most recently as Chief Nurse and Acting Deputy Chief Executive at Sheffield Children’s NHS Foundation Trust. Her leadership experience spans acute, community and mental health services across South Yorkshire, the Midlands and East London. Sally was awarded an OBE for services to nursing in the Queen’s Birthday Honours in 2020.

Sally serves as Chair of the Fitness to Practice Committee with the Nursing and Midwifery Council.

Dr Alison Steele is a consultant general paediatrician and qualified forensic medical examiner specialising in safeguarding children.

She has spent most of her professional career in the north east, firstly in Gateshead and then in Newcastle upon Tyne. She has held posts such as named doctor for safeguarding children, designated doctor for safeguarding children and for looked after children.

Alison moved to London in 2016 and has worked at Great Ormond Street Hospital and the Tavistock Hospital. She was the RCPCH officer for child protection between 2018 and 2023. She has worked previously with DfE, providing health input on social care reforms, and rewriting the working together to safeguard children statutory guidance.

Alison currently works part time for a private hospital in London as a named doctor for safeguarding children.

Isabelle Trowler was appointed as the government’s first Chief Social Worker for Children and Families in September 2013. She qualified as a social worker in 1996 and has worked as both a practitioner and senior leader in a variety of local government roles.

Isabelle chairs the National Practice Group and is currently a member of the:

•  Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel
• Family Justice Board

Isabelle was a founder member of the What Work’s Centre for Children’s Social Care, which is now known as Foundations. She has more than 30 years’ experience in the children’s sector and has previously contributed to:

• the 2022 Independent review of children’s social care and the government’s response
• the development of the statutory children’s social care national framework
• a refresh of the post-qualifying standards for child and family social work

She is currently working closely with the families first for children pathfinders and has a particular interest in the national rollout of the multi-agency child protection teams.

Isabelle was awarded a CBE in the New Years Honours 2024 for services to children’s social care.