NATIONAL PROBATION SERVICE : Northumbria

Board meetings
Board members
Agendas
Minutes

* Please Note: All files are in PDF format. Please contact us if you require them in any other format.

All Northumbria Probation Board meetings are open to the public, starting at 10am and will be held at:

Head Office
Lifton House
Eslington Road
Jesmond
Newcastle upon Tyne
NE2 4SP

Dates for board meetings 2008 / 09

11 & 12 September 2008
6 November 2008
17 December 2008
22 January 2009
19 March 2009

Lesley Bessant
Lesley is the current Chair of the Board. Her background has been spent almost entirely in the public sector, and most of it in local government. She spent seven years with Newcastle City Council and then moved to Gateshead Council, as Assistant Chief Executive, helping to develop the council’s response to the government’s improvement agenda, she remained there until she retired last year. She has also worked as a policy advisor to the police authority, giving her some insight into the complexities of the criminal justice system.
Her Honour Judge Bolton
Her Honour Judge Bolton is a circuit Judge who sits on the North Eastern Circuit.
John Carr
John is a business adviser with Business Link North East, having retired from a senior business manager position with Lloyds TSB. An associate of the chartered institute of bankers and of the institute of business consulting, he has a great deal of experience in banking, specialising in the small and medium enterprise market, and also in managing business teams. In addition to general responsibilities as a board member, John is a member of the audit committee and deputises on the health and safety committee.
Alison Clark
Alison is an independent member of the parole board. A qualified solicitor, she worked for many years with the Crown Prosecution Service in County Durham and later became a business manager in a local hospital. As well as her board responsibilities, Alison has been appointed to the local joint committee and deputises for Heidi Douglas in her work with the voluntary managed approved premises in Northumbria.
Richard Dobson
Richard is managing director of SDC Partnerships Ltd. Working first in HR management in the NHS, he became director of HR for Mersey Regional Health Authority and then head of HR for Northern Rock. For the last 20 years he has been a management consultant, with 14 years as managing director of a consulting practice which serves clients in both private and public sectors throughout the UK and Europe. His expertise includes people and organisational development, organisational change and performance management. He is also a magistrate for South East Northumberland and has served as a non-executive director for Northgate and Prudhoe NHS Trust. As part of his role as board member he sits on the local joint committee and serious further offence review committee.
Heidi Douglas

Heidi is the director of a local voluntary sector service called Streetwise which provides sexual health, mental health and drugs and alcohol services to over 6,500 young people each year. Heidi has a keen interest in research, in particular learning from what works, she has been involved in nation research projects on self-harm, exiting young people from prostitution and another on community based mental health provision.
Janet Guy
Janet is an independent member of Northumbria Police Authority and a lead member for diversity. She is qualified solicitor, who practiced in Northumberland and Tyneside in the areas of criminal and family law, as well as in wills, probate and trusts. She was a non-executive director of Newcastle, North Tyneside and Northumberland Mental Health NHS Trust. She has been a school governor and worked with charities such as CAB, a medical research charity and hospice. She chairs the audit committee in addition to her board duties.
Colin Stewart

Colin owns a fleet driving school and works as a fleet driving instructor. He previously ran his own security installations business. He is also a magistrate for Sunderland. As well as sitting on the board, Colin is a member of the audit committee and the health and safety committee.
Pam Walker

Pam is a project manager for the Spiral Skills Advocacy Project. She began work with young offenders in the Youth Justice System, eventually leading the Youth Justice Team. Later having moved to the voluntary sector, she developed expertise in the commissioning and delivery of contracts and Service Level Agreements with the public sector. She has been a member of the board for over three years and brings to her position not only the expertise she gained in the voluntary sector but also an understanding of the complexities of the justice system.
Pauline Williamson

As Chief Officer, Pauline is responsible for the overall operational and strategic direction of the area. She has fulfilled a number of senior management roles within the probation service. She previously worked in Cumbria Probation Area as Assistant Chief Officer from 1992, moving to Northumbria as Director of Human Resources in 1995. She was Deputy Chief Officer and Acting Chief Officer before she was appointed in 2005 as Chief Officer.

Her Honour Judge Bolton

John Carr

Alison Clark

Richard Dobson

Heidi Douglas

Janet Guy

Colin Stewart

Pam Walker