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Sponsor department
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Home Office
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Body
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Domestic Homicide Review Quality Assurance Board
10 October 2025
The Minister for Safeguarding and Violence Against Women and Girls, Jess Phillips MP, has approved the appointment of 3 new public office holders to the quality assurance (QA) board for domestic homicide reviews:
Dame Jasvinder Sanghera
Dr Nicola Sharp-Jeffs OBE
Rachel Freeman
These members will join representatives from:
NHS England
His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service
the Welsh government
All bring extensive expertise in domestic abuse, safeguarding and broader issues related to violence against women and girls (VAWG). The QA board will be chaired by the Deputy Director of the Home Office Interpersonal Abuse Unit.
The DHR process is underpinned by the Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Act 2004 which provides for local areas to carry out a DHR in instances where the death of a person aged 16 or over has, or appears to have, resulted from violence, abuse or neglect.
The Home Office amended this legislation via the Victims and Prisoners Act 2024, so that going forward, a DHR is commissioned when the death has, or appears to have, resulted from domestic abuse as defined by the Domestic Abuse Act 2021. The legislation also changes the name of the reviews to ‘domestic abuse related death reviews’ to reflect the range of the deaths which fall within their scope. We expect to commence these provisions within the coming months.
These reviews offer a vital opportunity for national and local agencies, communities and society as a whole to learn lessons from domestic abuse related deaths and treat every death as preventable.
The new QA board will play a critical role in ensuring that DHRs meet the required standards for publication. This includes:
making sure they are following government guidance confirming that the DHR chair has engaged relevant agencies, organisations and family members to build a comprehensive picture ensuring that meaningful learning has been identified to help prevent future deaths.
The introduction of the new QA board has been designed to:
ensure that Community Safety Partnerships are provided with feedback in a more timely manner
improve the overall quality of DHRs
streamline the quality assurance process
Biographies
Member: Dame Jasvinder Sanghera
Dame Jasvinder Sanghera founded Karma Nirvana in 1993, the first specialist charity for victims and survivors of ‘honour’-based abuse (HBA) in the UK after she escaped a forced marriage at 16 and tragically lost her sister to HBA. She worked as the chief officer of the charity for 25 years before stepping down in 2018.
Jasvinder’s work has been recognised as instrumental in the creation of the UK’s first criminal offence of forced marriage in 2014. She has extensive experience in the charity sector and in combating domestic abuse. She has served as an expert witness in child, civil, and criminal proceedings and has previously chaired DHRs. She also held a position on the Independent Safeguarding Board for the Church of England and chaired the Leeds Safeguarding Children Partnership.
She was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 2013 and promoted to Dame Commander (DBE) in the 2024 Birthday Honours for her services to victims of forced marriage and ‘honour’-based abuse.
Member: Dr Nicola Sharp-Jeffs OBE
Dr Nicola Sharp-Jeffs started working in the VAWG sector in 2006 and in 2017, founded Surviving Economic Abuse (SEA), the UK’s first charity dedicated to raising awareness of economic abuse and transforming responses to it. The charity was born out of her 2016 Churchill Fellowship, during which she studied international best practices in responding to financial abuse in the US and Australia.
Under her leadership, SEA played a pivotal role in influencing the Domestic Abuse Act 2021, which for the first time included a statutory definition of economic abuse in UK law and removed the co-habitation requirement in Section 76 of the Serious Crime Act, making controlling or coercive behaviour criminal post-separation.
Nicola’s work has had a transformative impact across multiple sectors, including:
financial services
debt advice
domestic abuse support
She collaborated with UK Finance on the Financial Abuse Code to improve industry responses to survivors and, in partnership with Money Advice Plus led the development and rollout of the Economic Abuse Evidence Form, enabling more effective communication between debt advisers and creditors.
Her research contributions include publications on coercive control, domestic homicide, and the long-term impact of abuse on women and children. She has also served as a Research Fellow at the Child and Woman Abuse Studies Unit (CWASU) at London Metropolitan University and retains Emeritus status. In 2022, Nicola published the book titled ‘Understanding and Responding to Economic Abuse’.
In recognition of her services to victims of domestic and economic abuse, Nicola was awarded an OBE in 2020 in the Queen’s Birthday Honours.
Member: Rachel Freeman
Rachel Freeman spent 31 years as a police officer in Kent Police. Rachel served in a range of roles where she was a specialist safeguarding advisor and an investigator for safeguarding and public protection.
As an accredited detective, Rachel was responsible for investigations in:
domestic abuse
‘honour’-based abuse
forced marriage
stalking
Rachel spent 6 years based at the training school for Kent Police delivering training and awareness to police and multi-agency colleagues regarding these crimes.
Since November 2022, Rachel has been an independent safeguarding consultant and trainer, a safeguarding review practitioner and co-author, an independent foster panel member and chair, and a university lecturer. Rachel regularly delivers training to police forces regarding VAWG crimes.
Rachel has significant frontline and investigative experience in public protection policing and safeguarding, as well as in strategic leadership on domestic abuse through her work in Kent Police. Rachel has experience of working with families who are bereaved because of a domestic homicide and has supported them through the DHR journey.
Rachel will be the policing representative for the QA board.
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Sponsor department
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HM Treasury
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Body
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National Wealth Fund
2 October 2025
Catherine Cripps, Tom Riordan, and Joseph Schull have been appointed as new Non-Executive Directors by the Chancellor Rachel Reeves as the National Wealth Fund focuses on scaling up delivery: increasing the capital it deploys, expanding into new sectors, and building stronger regional investment pipelines.
Over the past year, the National Wealth Fund (NWF) has been at the forefront of investing public money in the UK’s future, supporting the government’s mission to put more money into the pockets of working people through our Plan for Change. It is now set to move into a new chapter under the leadership of Oliver Holbourn, who takes up the role of CEO on 1 November.
The National Wealth Fund Board, chaired by Chris Grigg, has been central to the organisation’s progress to date, and the appointment of Catherine, Tom and Joseph will significantly add to its capabilities.
Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves said:
I would like to congratulate Catherine, Tom and Joseph on their appointments as Non-Executive Directors of the National Wealth Fund.
They bring exceptional track records to the NWF’s Board, spread across Investment, Risk Management and Local and Regional Government. Each of them will further strengthen an already capable and experienced Board as it supports our mission to boost economic growth and living standards through our Plan for Change.
Chair of the National Wealth Fund, Chris Grigg said:
I am delighted to welcome Catherine, Tom, and Joseph to the Board. Each brings vital expertise and perspective that will strengthen our ability to deliver on the NWF’s ambitious objectives, as we scale up our investment activity to support the government’s growth and clean power missions.
Catherine Cripps said:
It is a privilege to take up this role and support the NWF on its critical mission to drive growth and investment in the UK.
Tom Riordan said:
I’m delighted to be joining the team at the National Wealth Fund at such an exciting time and I’m looking forward to helping them deploy capital and create jobs that benefit the whole country.
Joseph Schull said:
I am delighted to join the NWF Board as it begins a new chapter and I look forward to supporting its mission to act as a catalyst for the growth of the UK’s digital businesses and green economy across the country.
Biographies
Catherine Cripps is a seasoned investment management professional, having held senior leadership roles at major institutions and smaller, entrepreneurial businesses. She has built a diverse board portfolio, serving on listed company boards, private equity backed businesses, government agencies and major international subsidiaries. Catherine currently Chairs Polar Capital Technology Trust plc and is a Non-Executive Director of Pool Re Insurance Company Ltd, Goldman Sachs International & Goldman Sachs International Bank
Tom Riordan brings extensive experience across central and local government. He began his career in government, subsequently serving as Chief Executive of a regional development agency. He later became Chief Executive of Leeds City Council, overseeing significant regeneration and public service transformation. Tom currently serves as Second Permanent Secretary at the Department for Health and Social Care and will undertake the NED role alongside this position.
Joseph Schull is Co-Founder and Managing Partner of private equity firm Corten Capital. Previously, Joseph was Head of Europe at Warburg Pincus and a member of the firm’s Executive Management Group, responsible for overseeing investments in multiple sectors, with a focus on technology. Joseph is an experienced board member, having served as both an investment director and a non-executive director. He brings over 25 years of investing and business building expertise as well as strategic insight to NWF’s Board.
More information
Catherine, Tom and Joseph have been appointed following an open and fair recruitment process.
A panel comprising Chris Grigg (Chair of the NWF Board), Elena Ciallie (Non-Executive Director and Director at UKGI) David Lunn (former Director at HM Treasury), and Stephen Peacock (Independent) oversaw the longlisting and shortlisting of candidates. The interviews were subsequently conducted by Chris Grigg, Elena Ciallie, and David Lunn, who made recommendations to the Chancellor, which informed her final decision.
Catherine, Tom, and Joseph have confirmed that they have not engaged in any political activity within the last five years.
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Sponsor department
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Department for Energy Security & Net Zero
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Body
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Committee on Radioactive Waste Management
1 October 2025
The Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero has appointed Peter Bryant to the Committee on Radioactive Waste Management for a 4-year term, commencing on the 1st of October 2025.
Peter is a senior leader with over 17 years’ experience
working in the nuclear sector. Peter has an
extensive background in the areas of nuclear policy and regulation,
environmental consenting, radiation protection, and sustainability (including
ESG / green financing).
Throughout his career, Peter has gained significant
experience working in major project delivery, nuclear and environmental
consenting / compliance and organisational development, along with a solid
commercial grounding both as a client and as part of the supply chain.
He also
has a wealth of stakeholder engagement experience interfacing with Regulators,
UK Government, the European Commission, United Nations, Local Authorities,
Media, and the Public.
In addition, he sits on various national and
international policy and scientific bodies, was former President of the UK’s
Royal Chartered Professional Body for Radiation Protection (The Society for
Radiological Protection) and hold an Honorary Professorship in Physics at the
University of Liverpool specialising in Radiation Protection Science and
Nuclear Energy Policy. Peter has a Senior Fellowship at the University of
Suffolk in Environment & Energy Research and has received two national
awards in support of his work in the Energy Sector and Radiation Protection /
Radioactive Waste fields respectively.