Our policy advisory board

Kate Barker is a business economist. She is a trustee of the Essex Community Foundation, a member of Council at Oxford University and an NED of Taylor Wimpey plc and Man Group plc. She led the King’s Fund Commission on the Future of Health and Social Care and a major policy review for government on housing supply. Kate is a former member of the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee.

Daria heads up Teach First's Strategy and Research department. Previously she was Strategy and Market Development Director at Big Society Capital, and has broad experience in strategy and research, including at New Local Government Network, NHS England and the Cabinet Office Strategy Unit. Daria is a trustee of Avenues Group, a fellow of practice at the Government Outcomes Lab at the Blavatnik School of Government, and has an MPA in International Development from London School of Economics.

Neil is a Partner at PwC, and was a special adviser to the former Deputy Prime Minister and thirty years ago was the President of the Oxford Union, beating Boris Johnson. Neil has served as a member of the Armed Forces Pay Review Body, the Alan Milburn Commission which looked at access to the professions and was Chairman of Working Families. Neil was awarded a CBE in 2015 for public & political service.

Nicholas Timmins is a senior fellow at the Institute for Government and the King’s Fund. Between 1996 and 2011 he was public policy editor of the Financial Times. He is also a visiting professor in social policy at the London School of Economics, and at King’s College, London in public management. He is a senior associate of the Nuffield Trust. Nick is also the author of The five giants: a biography of the welfare state and of Glaziers and window breakers: the role of the Secretary of State for Health, in their own words.

Neil is Chief Executive of CLES, a charity and research organisation dedicated to economic development and local governance. His current focus is a new economic model for places, which includes economic resilience, collaboration, networks and new forms of public service delivery. He is an Honorary Fellow at the University of Manchester and a Visiting Fellow at Edge Hill University. He chairs the Greater Manchester Poverty Action Group.

James is Executive Director of Advice and Advocacy at Citizens Advice, leading functions including communications, external affairs, the charity’s statutory roles, and policy research. He was formerly Director of Policy at the Resolution Foundation, where he established and led influential studies into living standards and the minimum wage. James worked previously at 10 Downing Street and the Cabinet Office and has been a strategy consultant in the private sector and a Kennedy Memorial Scholar at Harvard.

Steve retired as Lewisham’s directly-elected mayor in May 2018 after serving four terms. Since 2010 he had been the London Councils’ Executive Lead on Housing and the Mayor of London’s Homes for Londoners Board. Currently he is a director of the Housing & Finance Institute and works with local councils on improvement with the Local Government Association (LGA) Peer Programme. Previously he was Deputy Chair of the LGA and chaired its Commercial Board. Following his retirement Sir Steve was appointed as Representative Deputy Lieutenant for Lewisham.

Charlotte is Director of the Centre for Progressive Policy. Previously Charlotte was Director of Public Services and Communities at the RSA, where she also ran the Inclusive Growth Commission – chaired by Stephanie Flanders – and City Growth Commission – chaired by Lord Jim O’Neill. Before joining the RSA, Charlotte was a Senior Policy Advisor to the Deputy Prime Minister, Rt Hon Nick Clegg MP, working on immigration, energy and housing.

Caroline is the founding Director of Civil Exchange, a think tank set up to help civil society deliver its full potential. She is also a founding member and convenor of A Better Way, a network of leaders who want to improve services and strengthen communities. Caroline has written extensively on civil society, including most recently, as a member of the Early Action Task Force, Valuing Social Infrastructure. She is a former Chief Executive of the Equal Opportunities Commission and of Refugee and Migrant Justice and has held many senior roles in government.