Cafcass Corporate Management Team
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Anthony Douglas CBE, Chief Executive Anthony Douglas has been Chief Executive of Cafcass, the specialist national agency that supports over 150,000 children in public and private law cases every year, since 2004. Anthony started his career as an economist and journalist, but found his true passion in social work, where he worked on the frontline for 11 years. After being promoted through the ranks, Anthony became Executive Director for all community services in the London Borough of Havering in 1996, holding this post until 2002. He then went on to run health and social care services in Suffolk, from 2002 to 2004. He has been a school governor, a non-executive director of the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) and a government adviser on specific programmes, including youth justice, children in care and child protection. Anthony is currently a Visiting Fellow of the University of East Anglia and the University of Plymouth, and has been Chair of the British Association for Adoption and Fostering (BAAF) since 2005. He has written four books on social care and is now writing a fifth book on how individuals, teams and organisations can become more resilient under pressure. Anthony was awarded a CBE in 2008 for his work in family justice and adoption. |
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Christine Banim, National Service Director Christine joined Cafcass in November 2008 as Operational Director for the central area, and brings with her a wealth of experience in children’s services. Christine previously worked as Assistant Director in Lincolnshire and, over the past 15 years, has worked in a number of local authorities at a senior manager level. Before taking on managerial roles, she worked in a specialist child protection unit for nine years and has extensive experience in court work. |
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Julie Brown, Director of Finance Julie joined Cafcass in 2008, having worked in both Adults and Children’s Social Care for a number of years. Prior to that, she worked in the Probation Service before its national reorganisation. After qualifying as a Chartered Accountant in the early 1990s, she worked for a number of years in both practice and industry until 2001, when she switched to, and then stayed, working within the public sector. |
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Bruce Clark, Director of Policy Bruce joined Cafcass in 2008 on a one-year secondment from the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF, now known as the Department for Education (DfE)). In April 2009, Bruce decided to stay at Cafcass, becoming the Director of Policy. Bruce has 35 years of experience in social work, having started his career as a volunteer worker in the Probation Service. He later worked for three local authorities as a social worker, and then as a social work manager. He was also a panel manager in Surrey. |
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Melanie Carew, Head of Legal Services Melanie joined Cafcass in 2004 as a Lawyer, and was promoted to Principal Lawyer in 2010. In both these roles, she handled separate representation. At the end of 2012, she became Head of Legal Services and now deals with all aspects of advising Cafcass. Melanie qualified as lawyer in 1993, following a career in the voluntary sector. |
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Jabbar Sardar, Director of Human Resources and Organisational Development Jabbar joined Cafcass in October 2006 as the Head of Human Resources, responsible for the HR and Health & Wellbeing functions. In October 2009, Jabbar became Director of Human Resources and Organisational Development. Prior to joining Cafcass, Jabbar worked as a Senior HR Manager with Education Leeds, where he was responsible for delivering HR services to 300 schools, 18,000 school-based staff, as well as managing a team of HR professionals. Prior to leaving Education Leeds, he was the interim Head of Human Resources responsible for a budget of over £10 million and a staffing compliment of 100 staff. Jabbar has also worked as a HR professional with Leeds City Council and the University of Bradford. |
