Press Release

GSCC announces appointment of three new Council members

15/08/2008

The General Social Care Council has announced the appointment of three new members to its Council, following a selection carried out by the Appointments Commission. They are Hilary Tompsett, Haqeeq Bostan and John Knight.

Non-lay member Hilary Tompsett is Head of the School of Social Work at Kingston University & St. George’s, University of London and Chair of the Learning and Teaching Committee of the Joint University Council Social Work Education Committee (JUC SWEC). She is Chair of the Surrey and Sussex Post Qualifying Consortium Assessment Board and Chair of the Social Work Education Group for the two counties and has been chair and a member of a number of national working groups. She is a registered social worker.

Lay member Haqeeq Baston is a lawyer by training but now works as an independent consultant with an interest in equality and discrimination issues. He has advised a number of public authorities (such as TfL and the Crown Prosecution Service) on matters concerning disability and equalities. He is a non-executive director of Southwark PCT, chair of the London Black Disability Forum and a director of Independent Living Alternatives.

Lay member John Knight is Assistant Director of Leonard Cheshire Disability and was a mainspring in forming the Voluntary Organisations Disability Group of which he was convenor. He is a JP, a trustee of NCVO, as well as a member of the Cabinet Office’s Third Sector Advisory Board. Mr Knight has two other Ministerial appointments, one as a Commissioner with the Commission for Social Care Inspection for which he receives remuneration of c. £7,765 per annum and one on the Management Board of the Office for Disability Issues for which he receives no payment. John uses social care services.

By law the Council, which meets six times a year and determines the strategic direction of England’s social care workforce regulator, is lay-lead and must have a majority of lay members. The new members will take up their appointments for a period of four years with effect from 1 September 2008 and have remuneration set at £7,765 per annum.

All appointments are made on merit and political activity plays no part in the selection process. However, in accordance with the original Nolan recommendations, there is a requirement for appointees’ political activity (if any declared) to be made public. In this case John Knight has made a declaration to the extent that he has canvassed on behalf of the Labour Party or helped at elections within the past five years. Hilary Tompsett and Haqeeq Bostan have declared no political activity. The appointments have been made in accordance with the Office of the Commissioner for Public Appointments’ Code of Practice.

The new council members succeed Christine Barton MBE, Prof. June Thoburn CBE and Tanzeem Ahmed who all come to the end of their appointed terms as of 31 August 2008.

In welcoming the new members, GSCC Chair Sir Rodney Brooke said:

“It is a great pleasure to welcome Hilary Tompsett, Haqeeq Bostan and John Knight as new members of the General Social Care Council. They bring with them a wealth of experience in social care and related fields that will help the GSCC in continuing to take forward its ambitions of raising standards in social care. It is testament to the importance of the work of social workers that the GSCC is able to secure the membership of such able and committed people.

“These new members fill the posts of three founding members of the Council whose terms end this August. Christine Barton, Tanzeem Ahmed and Vice-Chair June Thoburn have made a tremendous contribution to the work of the Council, bringing a wide variety of experience and skills that have helped to shape our work. They have been delightful to work with and we send them every good wish for the future.”