Education Secretary appoints new chair of Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel
Source: gov.uk (2025-04-27)

Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson has appointed Sir David Holmes as the new Chair of the Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel.

The independent panel of experts provides national leadership and learning on child protection and safeguarding. Established in July 2018 to review serious child safeguarding incidents, when children have died or suffered serious harm due to abuse or neglect, the panel aims to improve the safeguarding system by identifying national learning from these tragedies.

David Holmes has 19 years’ experience in the development and provision of high-quality services for children and families as a CEO in the voluntary sector, currently as CEO of Family Action - a frontline charity which supports families through change, challenge or crisis. Prior to that he served as a Deputy Director of Children’s Services in local government, a senior civil servant in the Department of Health and Department for Education, and as a practising solicitor. He will serve a 4-year term from 23 June 2025.

This appointment builds on the announcement that the panel will form the foundation from which to build the Child Protection Authority (CPA) in England. The CPA will be established to make the child protection system clearer and more unified, and ensure ongoing improvement for child and youth victims of abuse and neglect through effective, evidence-based support for practitioners.

Under Sir David’s leadership, work to expand the role of the panel by increasing its analytical capacity and to provide high-quality material for practitioners will begin immediately. Later this year, the government will develop a roadmap to establishing the CPA and launch a consultation on the development of the new CPA.

Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson said:

Sir David Holmes’ track record in working on the ground with children and families, supporting them through the toughest times, makes him well-placed to help us build a system where background does not determine destiny.

I am grateful to Annie Hudson for her stewardship of the panel, bringing forth ambitious recommendations that are now informing our work to improve child protection across England and deliver our Plan for Change.

As we move towards creating a new Child Protection Authority, I look forward to working with Sir David Holmes in a shared ambition to protect and defend the most vulnerable children in our society.

Incoming chair of the panel, Sir David Holmes, said:

I am honoured to have been chosen to undertake this role. No child should suffer harm, abuse or neglect and the panel’s role in working with the whole safeguarding system to review practice, identify learning and encourage and enable improvement is crucial.

I look forward to working with everyone to improve the safeguarding of children and I will do everything I possibly can to make a positive difference in this role.

Outgoing chair of the panel, Annie Hudson, said:

I feel immensely privileged to have served as Chair of the Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel for the past 5 years.

The panel has worked hard to ensure that, as a nation and as safeguarding professionals, we learn from tragic incidents where children have died or been seriously harmed because of abuse and neglect.

There is much important work to do over the coming period to improve how agencies work together to help and protect children. With his wealth of experience, I know that Sir David Holmes is very well placed to lead the panel in taking forward plans to create a stronger, evidence-based system that puts children’s needs at the heart of all we do.

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