WRITTEN STATEMENT
BY
THE WELSH GOVERNMENT
TITLE
Appointment of Members to the Public Services Staff Commission
DATE
8 September 2015
BY
Leighton Andrews AM, Minister for Public Services
On 24 March, I announced that I would be setting up a non-statutory Public Services Staff
Commission. I subsequently announced that Gill Lewis had been appointed as Chair and I
can now confirm the membership of the Commission following a full and open public
appointments process.
Joining Gill are Sally Ellis, Margaret Foster, Graham Jones, Martin Mansfield and Harry
Thomas. I will be providing more details on public service workforce issues on 15
September in a Ministerial Oral Statement.
This statement is being issued during recess in order to keep members informed. Should
members wish me to make a further statement or to answer questions on this when the
Assembly returns I would be happy to do so.
Biographical details
Sally Ellis
Sally’s background is in local government and community development. Following an early
career in community development in the third sector, Sally joined Clwyd County Council
Social Services in 1992, became an Assistant Director in Conwy at local government reorganisation in 1995 and then a Director with Denbighshire County Council in 2003.
1
Sally was a Corporate Director in Denbighshire for 12 years. During this period, she was the
statutory Director of Social Services and the corporate lead, at different times, for a range of
other services including Housing, Leisure, IT, HR and the Local Development Plan.
Since finishing full time work in 2014, Sally has become an advisor for Citizens’ Advice in
Denbigh and Vice Chair of North Wales Housing Association. Sally has also chaired the
Strategic Improvement Steering Group for Welsh Government, which has provided advice
to the Health and Social Services Minister on social care improvement arrangements and
priorities.
Sally has a degree in English from Oxford University and postgraduate qualifications in
social administration and in leadership for collaboration from Bangor University.
Margaret Foster
Graduating in 1973, Margaret worked in the NHS in Wales from 1974 until her retirement in
2010. As an NHS Chief Executive for 14 years, she led the mergers of a number of
organisations including the establishment of the Cwm Taf Heath Board in 2008.
She has served as a Board Member with the University of Glamorgan, Skills for Health and
Principality Building Society, as the NHS Wales Equality Commissioner, and as a
Commissioner for Welsh Government to Anglesey Council.
In 2012 she was appointed as Chair of the Wales NHS Shared Services Partnership,
maintaining her interest in organizational development and human resources issues in the
NHS and the wider Welsh Public Service. She is also a member of the Dewis Gyrfa/Career
Choices Board.
Graham Jones
Graham Jones MA is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel & Development and
has extensive experience of managing change and working with trade unions. He undertook
a number of local authority management services and HR roles before being appointed as
Neath Port Talbot Council’s Head of Strategic Personnel in 1995 during the last local
government re-organisation in Wales.
Graham has twice been Chair of the local government HR Directors’ Network and has
represented Welsh local authority HR Directors in a number of national roles, particularly in
relation to HR improvement, social services and schools workforce matters. Graham was a
HR Adviser to the Welsh Local Government Association for a number of years until 2014.
He is a strong advocate of public service employers and trade unions working in social
partnership and has extensively championed this approach as a member of the local
2
government Joint Council for Wales and JCW Executive Committee. He was a member of
the Welsh Government’s Workforce Partnership Council between 2012 and 2014,
After leaving Neath Port Talbot Council, he became Strategic HR Director for the ERW
regional school improvement consortium covering Mid and South-West Wales. Graham
currently undertakes HR consultancy work, primarily for local authorities in Wales.
Graham also has extensive experience of multi-agency emergency planning and civil
contingencies activity at local and regional levels. He was a member of the South Wales
Local Resilience Forum and was Chair of the South Wales Local Authority Resilience Board
from 2012 to 2014.
Martin Mansfield
Martin Mansfield was appointed as Wales TUC General Secretary in August 2008. Martin
has played a leading role in the social partnership structures in Wales including as joint
secretary of the public services Workforce Partnership Council and trade union lead on the
Council for Economic Renewal. He has chaired and participated in a number of Welsh
government advisory boards including youth employment, government procurement,
economic policy and employment & skills.
He is Chair of the board of directors of the Wales Social Partners Unit.
For over twenty years before becoming Wales TUC General Secretary, Martin was a full
time trade union official covering a wide range of industries including advanced
manufacturing and health services. Before that he worked in further education and
industrial skills research. In 2003-2005 he served as economic development special advisor
to Wales’ First Minister and Cabinet.
Martin has a Masters Degree in Industrial Relations (with Economics and Law), a BA Hons
in History & English and a postgraduate diploma in Applied Research Methods.
Harry Thomas
Harry graduated from Manchester University with a degree in Economics and subsequently
qualified as an accountant with the National Audit Office in South Wales before moving on
to join Cheshire County Council. He has worked with the former Welsh Water Authority and
Gwynedd County Council. After the 1996 Local Government reorganisation he was
appointed Treasurer with Gwynedd Council and in 2003 was appointed Chief Executive
where he remained until his retirement last year.
3