Ian Thomas | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 1969 |
| Nationality | British |
| Occupation | Town Clerk & Chief Executive of the City of London Corporation |
Ian Cornelius Thomas CBE (born 1969) serves as the 51st Town Clerk of London and Chief Executive of the City of London Corporation since 2023. [1]
Born in South Yorkshire to parents from Jamaica who immigrated to England as part of the Windrush generation, Thomas originally wanted to be a footballer and was signed to Sheffield United until a back injury. He is related to Jessica Ennis-Hill. [2]
Thomas attended Newfield Secondary School, Sheffield, before pursuing further studies, graduating as MA in professional practice (change management) from Lancaster University in 2007. [3]
Thomas served in local government for over 20 years prior to joining the City of London in 2023. Thomas has built a national profile as one of the country's leading public service Chief Executives, having forged his career as a leader in transformation, social care and health services. [4]
Thomas started his career in public service at Trafford Council in 1999, and then joined Derbyshire County Council (2006–14), becoming Deputy CEO (2011–14).
Thomas was initially headhunted on a one-year contract by Malcolm Newsam, the children's social care commissioner appointed by the government to oversee children's and young people's services in Rotherham in the wake of the Jay Report by Professor Alexis Jay. [5] As Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council's Strategic Director for Children and Young People from 2015 until 2018, [6] Thomas transformed the council's social services, [7] being appointed CBE in 2019 for his leadership in the wake of the rotherham child sexual exploitation scandal. [8] Under his leadership, the number of children in Derbyshire who achieved five or more GCSEs trebled in a single year. Ofsted praised Thomas's leadership for creating "a culture of learning, support and challenge." [9]
He was Chief Executive of the London Borough of Lewisham in 2018, before serving as CEO of the Royal Borough of Kingston-upon-Thames (2019–23) [10] where he led award-winning public services and a £1.2bn regeneration programme providing 3,000 new homes, schools, leisure & cultural facilities, 4,000 new jobs and apprenticeships and attracting inward investment, including Unilever’s new global HQ. [11]
Appointed Town Clerk and Chief Executive of the City Corporation in February 2023, he is also the Chief Executive of the Police Authority and oversees the City of London Police within the City of London. The Town Clerk, a position dating back to the 13th century, acts as head of the paid service, leading over 4,000 City Corporation staff, and is the organisation’s principal adviser to elected Members on matters of policy. [12]
The City of London Corporation, officially and legally the Mayor and Commonalty and Citizens of the City of London, is the local authority of the City of London, the historic centre of London and the location of much of the United Kingdom's financial sector.
James Rupert Jacob Murdoch is a British-American businessman. He is the younger son of media mogul Rupert Murdoch and the former chief executive officer (CEO) of 21st Century Fox from 2015 to 2019.
Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council is the local authority for Rotherham in South Yorkshire, England. The council is elected every four years. Since the last boundary changes in 2004, 63 councillors have been elected from 21 wards.
The recorder of London is an ancient legal office in the City of London. The recorder of London is the senior circuit judge at the Central Criminal Court, hearing trials of criminal offences. The recorder is appointed by the Crown on the recommendation of the City of London Corporation with the concurrence of the Lord Chancellor. The recorder's deputy is the Common Serjeant of London, appointed by the Crown on the recommendation of the Lord Chancellor. The recorder of London is, since 14 April 2020, Mark Lucraft.
Robert Walter Kerslake, Baron Kerslake, was a British senior civil servant. He was the head of the Home Civil Service from 2011 to 2014, succeeding Sir Gus O'Donnell.
Rotherham is a town in South Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in the Metropolitan Borough of Rotherham. A historical market town, Rotherham is on the banks of both the Rivers Don and Rother, from the latter of which the town’s name originates.
The Town Clerk of London is an important position that has existed since the 13th century in the City of London, England. Originally the role was to take the minutes of London council meetings, but over the years the holder's role has gathered responsibility, including staff and executive powers. Historically the incumbent received an annual fee of £10. This has risen to £244,000 in 2016/17, with 55% coming from the City Fund and 40% coming from the City's Cash.
Christopher Paul Duffield is the former Town Clerk of London and Chief Executive of the Corporation of the City of London. He was succeeded by John Barradell in 2012.
A clerk is a senior official of many municipal governments in the English-speaking world. In some communities, including most in the United States, the position is elected, but in many others, the clerk is appointed to their post. In the UK, a town or parish clerk is appointed by the town or parish council members. In almost all cases, the actual title of the clerk reflects the type of municipality they work for; thus, instead of simply being known as the clerk, the position is generally referred to as the town clerk, township clerk, city clerk, village clerk, borough clerk, board secretary, or county clerk. Other titles also exist, such as recorder and corporate officer. The office has existed for centuries, though in some places it is now being merged with other positions.
Shaun Wright is a British politician. He was the South Yorkshire Police and Crime Commissioner from 2012 to 2014. He was the first person to hold the post, to which he was elected as a Labour Party candidate on 15 November 2012. As he held a senior position in child services during the Rotherham child sexual exploitation scandal, he faced continual calls to resign. This resulted in his resignation from the Labour Party on 28 August and from his post on 16 September 2014.
The Rotherham child sexual exploitation scandal consists of the organised child sexual abuse that occurred in the town of Rotherham, South Yorkshire, Northern England from the late 1980s until 2013 and the failure of local authorities to act on reports of the abuse throughout most of that period. Researcher Angie Heal, who was hired by local officials and warned them about child exploitation occurring between 2002 and 2007, has since described it as the "biggest child protection scandal in UK history", with one report estimating that 1,400 girls were abused by "grooming gangs" between 1997 and 2013. Evidence of the abuse was first noted in the early 1990s, when care home managers investigated reports that children in their care were being picked up by taxi drivers. From at least 2001, multiple reports passed names of alleged perpetrators, several from one family, to the police and Rotherham Council. The first group conviction took place in 2010, when five British-Pakistani men were convicted of sexual offences against girls aged 12–16. From January 2011 Andrew Norfolk of The Times pressed the issue, reporting in 2012 that the abuse in the town was widespread and that the police and council had known about it for over ten years.
Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council is the local authority of the Metropolitan Borough of Rotherham in South Yorkshire, England. It is a metropolitan borough council and provides the majority of local government services in the borough.
Alexandrina Henderson Farmer Jay, CBE is a British academic. She is visiting professor at the University of Strathclyde and the independent chair of the Centre for Excellence for Children's Care and Protection (CELCIS).
The South Yorkshire Police and Crime Commissioner by-election was a 2014 by-election on 30 October 2014 for the position of Police and Crime Commissioner in the South Yorkshire Police region of the United Kingdom. It was triggered by the resignation of Shaun Wright, the inaugural South Yorkshire Police and Crime Commissioner, who stepped down from the position on 16 September 2014 following the Rotherham child sexual exploitation scandal. Wright had been head of children's services in Rotherham between 2005 and 2010, while events surrounding the scandal were taking place. The Labour candidate, Alan Billings, was elected.
Events from 2015 in England
Javed Akhter Khan was the chief executive of Barnardo's, the UK's largest children's charity from 2014-2021, having previously been chief executive of Victim Support.
John Barradell was the Town Clerk of London and Chief Executive of the Corporation of the City of London. He was appointed in 2012, when he succeeded Chris Duffield; he was the only candidate considered for the position.
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Dame Stella Gordon Manzie is a British public servant.
Dame Mary Ney is a British public servant who served as chief executive of the Royal Borough of Greenwich from 2000 and 2014.
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