Belinda Crowe
Head of Information Rights Division, Ministry of Justice
Belinda joined the Civil Service in 1979 and has been in public service throughout her career, first in the Department of Social Security, then continuing with a spell as an investigating officer for the Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration. Most recently working in the Department for Constitutional Affairs with responsibility for tribunals’ policy, coroners and public enquiries, before heading up the work on the Gender Recognition Bill. She then moved to become Head of the Crown and Devolution Division, before taking up her current post as Head of Information Rights Division.
Ben Worthy
Research Associate, The Constitution Unit
Ben Worthy is the Research Associate in Freedom of Information and Data Protection at the Constitution Unit. He has a PhD from the University of Manchester in the development of FOI in Britain and is currently working on the ESRC funded project into the impact of FOI upon British central government. He has written a number of articles on various aspects of FOI.
Clive Porro
Head of Information Rights Team, DEFRA
Clive has been a civil servant for nearly twenty years. In addition to a number of policy jobs in the former Ministry of Agriculture, Clive has also been seconded to the FCO, HM Treasury and a Regional Development Agency and served as private secretary to a number of ministers. Prior to taking up his current post as Head of Information Rights in DEFRA in 2006, he was a clerk to the Public Administration Select Committee in the House of Commons.
Dr David Murakami Wood
Lecturer, Newcastle University
David Murakami Wood is a researcher in the Global Urban Research Unit (GURU) at Newcastle University, UK. He specialises in the study of the history, technologies, practices and ethics of surveillance. He is also interested in: ubiquitous computing; urban resilience to disaster, war and terrorism; and in international cross-cultural comparative studies of these and other urban developments, particularly in the UK, Japan and Brazil. He is a co-founder and Managing Editor of the international journal of surveillance studies, Surveillance & Society, and a co-founder and trustee of the Surveillance Studies Network (SSN), the new charitable global association for surveillance studies.
He co-ordinated and edited the acclaimed Report on the Surveillance Society, for the Office of the Information Commissioner, in the UK, published in November 2006. He has been published in a wide range of academic journals, a new book, The Everyday Resilience of the City is coming out later this year, and he is currently working on two books on globalization and surveillance. He is currently working on projects on implants, biosecurity and disease surveillance and cultures of urban surveillance, is also leading a new series of UK ESRC Seminars, The Everyday Life of Surveillance.
Dawn Monaghan
Head of Good Practice Team, Information Commissioners Office
A graduate of Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, Dawn spent 20 years working in the UK public sector primarily with the British Broadcasting Corporation; Dawn joined the Information Commissioners Office in 2002 as a Senior Policy Manager for Freedom of Information.
A key member of the policy team, she had overall responsibility for ensuring that over 110,000 public authorities were aware of their obligations.
Her present role is to ensure the promotion of FOI good practice throughout the public sector and to develop and maintain key stakeholder relationships in the domestic and international arena.
Gerrard Tracey
Assistant Commissioner, FOI Good Practice and Enforcement, Information Commissioner’s Office
Gerrard Tracey is the Assistant Commissioner with responsibility for the Freedom of Information, Good Practice and Enforcement Team. The team is responsible for promoting the following of good practice, compliance with the requirements of the FOIA and the EIR as well as observance of the provisions of the related codes of practice. It is also responsible for reviewing and improving the performance of public authorities and raising public awareness and understanding. Over the last 12 months the team has been working closely with all sectors to develop a new model publication scheme and promote the proactive dissemination of information.
Previously, Gerrard was Head of Information and Compliance at the Charity Commission - the organisation responsible for supporting and regulating the over 180,000 registered charities in England and Wales. Gerrard was called to the Bar at Gray’s Inn in 1997.
Graham Smith
Deputy Information Commissioner
Graham Smith was appointed Deputy Information Commissioner in 2001 when the functions of the former Data Protection Commissioner were extended to cover Freedom of Information.
Prior to that Graham enjoyed a career in local government, working for 4 local authorities over a 20 year period. He holds a law degree from the University of Sheffield and a Diploma in Local Government Law and Practice. He was admitted as a Solicitor in 1982. He joined the Information Commissioner’s Office from Oldham MBC, where he was Assistant Chief Executive and Solicitor to the Council.
One of two Deputy Commissioners, Graham has lead responsibility for promoting and enforcing Freedom of Information and managerial responsibility for the Information Commissioner’s offices in Belfast and Cardiff.
Marcus Turle
Partner, Field Fisher Waterhouse LLP
Marcus Turle is a founder member of FFW’s Privacy & Information Law Group. His practice spans privacy, freedom of information, information security, official secrets and human rights law.
Marcus is currently advising on the information law aspects of two of the most innovative government projects of recent times: the national identity card scheme for the Identity and Passport Service, and the Police National Database for the National Policing Improvement Agency, a project to create an information hub for UK police and law enforcement bodies, as recommended by the Bichard Report commissioned following Ian Huntley’s conviction for the murder of Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman. Marcus also advises banks, professional services firms and high street retailers on data protection compliance and related issues.
Marcus has written two books on freedom of information, Freedom of Information Manual (Sweet & Maxwell) and Freedom of Information Handbook (Law Society Publishing). He also edits the only legal periodical available dedicated to this area, the journal Freedom of Information (email marcus.turle@ffw.com for a free sample issue). Marcus is the General Editor of Data Protection Laws of the World (Sweet & Maxwell), the leading practitioner’s guide to data protection legislation in over 60 countries and visiting lecturer on the Northumbria University Information Rights LLM, a new masters degree course funded by the Ministry of Justice.
Mark Glover
Research Assistant, The Constitution Unit
Mark joined the unit in January following an MA in European Society at UCL. He mainly works on the Freedom of Information team where he is contributing to an ESRC-funded evaluation of the effect of FOI on Whitehall, provides monthly updates on information policy developments and helps organise an information policy seminar series. He is also working on a forthcoming book on the future of the constitution, for which he is co-author of a chapter on the future of access to government information.
Maurice Frankel
Director, Campaign for Freedom of Information
Maurice Frankel has worked with the Campaign for Freedom of Information since it was set up in 1984, and has been its director since 1987. He has been closely involved with the Freedom of Information Act since its inception, in seeking to persuade the government to legislate, in pressing for improvements to the bill during its Parliamentary passage and subsequently in training both public authority staff and potential users.
Maurice is a member of the Ministry of Justice‘s ’Information Rights User Group‘ and was previously a member of the Lord Chancellor’s Advisory Group on Implementation of the Freedom of Information Act. He was a member of the Commonwealth Group of Experts whose Freedom of Information Principles were adopted by Commonwealth Law Ministers in 1999.
Maurice drafted the series of successful private members’ bills promoted by the Campaign which became the Access to Personal Files Act 1987, the Access to Medical Reports Act 1988, the Environment and Safety Information Act 1988 and the Access to Health Records Act 1990. He currently provides training for users of the FOI Act and for authorities on the Information Commissioner and Tribunal decisions under the Act.
Michael Wills MP
Minister of State, Ministry of Justice
Michael Wills was born in 1952.
He graduated from Clare College, Cambridge in 1973 and in 1976 he came top in the entrance exam for the Diplomatic Service and became Third Secretary at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. Between 1977 and 1980 he became Second Secretary and Labour Attache in New Delhi.
In 1980 he became a researcher on the ITV current affairs programme ‘Weekend World’, becoming a producer in 1982.
In 1985 he founded the independent television production company ‘Juniper’ and was producer/director and managing director until 1997.
At the same time he started advising the Shadow Cabinet, initially on defence and then on trade and industry and Treasury matters. At the 1992 General Election he worked as a media adviser to the Trade and Industry team.
In 1997 he was elected Labour MP for North Swindon and was re-elected in 2001 and 2005.
He was appointed Minister for Small Firms at the Department of Trade and Industry in 1999, Minister for Learning and Technology at the then Department for Education and Employment in 2000 and Minister at the Lord Chancellor’s Department and the Home Office in 2002. He was appointed Minister of State for Constitutional Renewal at the Ministry of Justice in July 2007.
Michael is married with five children.
Phil Michaels
Head of Legal, Friends of the Earth
Phil Michaels is Head of Legal at Friends of the Earth and is the senior lawyer with Friends of the Earth’s Rights & Justice Centre. He has been responsible for a number of FOI/EIR complaints to the Commissioner which have led significant decisions on EIR matters including on the designation of private companies as public authorities for EIR purposes and the release of waste contract information.
Phil has appeared before the Information Tribunal on a number of occasions including in significant EIR cases Markinson (on charging) (EA/2005/0014) and Friends of the Earth v. ICO/ECGD (intra-governmental communications) (EA/2006/0073) and other FOI appeals. He is a regular speaker at FOI live.
Richard Thomas
Information Commissioner
Richard Thomas has been the Information Commissioner since November 2002. His term of office has been extended until June 2009. He is appointed by HM Queen and has independent status, reporting directly to Parliament, with a range of responsibilities under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, the Data Protection Act 1998 and related laws. The functions of the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) include promoting good practice, ruling on complaints and taking regulatory action.
Richard’s previous career has included:
- Director of Public Policy at Clifford Chance;
- Director of Consumer Affairs at the Office of Fair Trading;
- Head of Public Affairs and Legal Officer at the National Consumer Council;
- Solicitor with the Citizens Advice Bureau Service and Freshfields.
He has also previously held various public appointments, including membership of the Lord Chancellor’s Civil Justice Review Advisory Committee and the Board of the Financial Ombudsman Service.
Richard has been awarded an honorary Doctor of Laws degree by the University of Southampton and is a visiting Professor at the University of Northumbria.
He has been married to Julia since 1974 and they have three adult children.
Prof. Robert Hazell
Director, The Constitution Unit
Robert Hazell is the founder and director of The Constitution Unit at University College London. The Constitution Unit has done work on every aspect of the government‘s constitutional reform programme, and is the UK’s leading research centre on freedom of information. During his time in the Home Office, Robert Hazell spent a year studying the implementation of FOI in Australia, Canada and New Zealand. He has advised overseas governments and UK government departments, and been a Special Adviser to parliamentary inquiries. He was a member of the government’s project board on implementation of FOI, and is currently a member of their Information Rights user group.
Sean Garvey
Senior Investigator, Office of the Information Commissioner
Sean Garveyis a Senior Investigator in the Office of the Information Commissioner, currently with responsibility for overseeing the Office’s processing of applications for review from all FOI public bodies bar those in the health sector. He has extensive prior FOI experience from his service in the FOI Central Policy Unit in the Department of Finance.
Steve Wood
Assistant Commissioner/Head of Freedom of Information Policy, Information Commissioners Office
Steve Wood joined the ICO in March 2007 as Assistant Commissioner/ Head of Freedom of Information Policy. He has responsibility for all internal freedom of information policy lines that support casework, reviewing the consistency and quality of decision notices and managing the ICO’s involvement in Information Tribunal appeals.
Previously Steve was a Senior Lecturer in Information Management at Liverpool John Moores University. During this time he founded the Freedom of Information Act blog and the open access journal Open Government. Prior to that Steve worked for HM Treasury.