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Search for press releasesHome Secretary Appoints Five Commissioners to the Commission for Racial Equality
3 April 2006
The Home Secretary Charles Clarke today named three new and two returning Commissioners to the Commission for Racial Equality (CRE), the statutory body working towards the elimination of race discrimination and the promotion of race equality in Britain.
These appointments will all run from 1 April 2006 until 31 March 2009, when the work of the CRE will taken forward by the Commission for Equality and Human Rights, the new commission bringing all equality issues together under one body.
Mr Clarke said:
"The Government is committed to closing the equality gap for black and minority ethnic communities and to building a strong and cohesive society. The work of the Commission for Racial Equality is absolutely crucial to delivering on those objectives.
"This is an important time for the CRE as it works towards the launch of the Commission for Equality and Human Rights - a body which will have a greater influence and enhanced powers to wield in the cause of race equality. I look forward to cooperating with the Commissioners as they work to meet the challenges that lie ahead for race equality across the country".
The newly appointed Commissioners are:
- Ms Carol Adams, currently the Chief Executive of the General Teaching Council for England;
- Sir Colin Budd, who is a retired member of HM Diplomatic Service; and
- Mr Dilwar Hussain, who is Head of the Policy Research Unit, (Senior Research Fellow) at the Islamic Foundation, Leicester.
Returning Commissioners are:
- Mr Khurshid Ahmed, who is currently a serving CRE Commissioner and a special CRE envoy to the Muslim Community; and
- Ms Gloria Mills, who is currently a serving CRE Commissioner representing the Trade Union Congress (TUC).
Notes to Editors
- These appointments have been made in accordance with the Code of Practice issued by the Office of the Commissioner for Public Appointments. All appointments are made on merit and political activity plays no part in the selection process. However, in accordance with the original Nolan recommendations, there is a requirement for appointees’ political activity (if any is declared) to be made public.
- Ms Carol Adams, aged 57, lives in Harpenden, Hertfordshire. She trained as a teacher working within inner London then went on to be Director of Education in Wolverhampton, then Shropshire and was appointed in 1999 as Chief Executive of the General Teaching Council for England, overseeing a £17million budget and steering the Council of 64. She is committed to the career development and promotion of black and minority ethnic teachers. Ms Adams is White British and is not politically active.
- Mr Khurshid Ahmed, aged 53, lives in Dudley, West Midlands. He is a current CRE Commissioner and has served as Acting Deputy Chair as well as Chair of the Audit Committee and a special CRE envoy to the Muslim Community. He is director of the Black Country Consortium for the four local authorities of the Black Country. Following the events of 7 July in London, the British Muslim Forum elected him as chair to help engage the Muslim Community with Government to tackle extremism and the radicalisation of Muslim Youth. He is also a non-Executive Director of Dudley Group of Hospitals (NHS) Trust, for which he receives remuneration of £5,673 a year. Mr Ahmed is Asian Pakistani and is politically active with the Labour Party.
- Sir Colin Budd, aged 60, lives in London. He is a retired member of HM Diplomatic Service, in which he served 38 years, including two spells as Private Secretary to a Cabinet Minister and another two in the Cabinet Office. He was HM Ambassador to the Netherlands between 2001 and 2005 and Deputy Under Secretary of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office between 1997 and 2001. Sir Colin is white and is not politically active.
- Mr Dilwar Hussain, aged 35, lives in Leicester. He is the Head of Policy Research Unit, (Senior Research Fellow) at the Islamic Foundation, Leicester. He currently teaches a post-graduate course on Islam in Europe at the Markfield Institute of Higher education. His primary research interests are citizenship, Muslim communities in Europe and Britain, and British Muslim identity. He has worked in academic research and policy consultancy for the last seven years. He sits on the Archbishop of Canterbury’s Commission on Urban Life and Faith and is also co-chair of Alif-Aleph UK a network which brings together British Jews and Muslims. Mr Hussain is Asian Bangladeshi and is not politically active.
- Ms Gloria Mills, aged 48, lives in London. She is President of the TUC and chair's the TUC's general Council, Executive Committee and the Race Relations Committee. She is also a Senior Manager/Senior Trade Union Officer for Unison with responsibility for strategic equality and employment policies. She is currently a serving CRE Commissioner representing the TUC. She was awarded the CBE in 2005 for services to equal opportunities and the MBE in 1999 for services to the Trade Union movement. Ms Mills is Black Caribbean, and is a member of the Labour Party National Policy Forum.
- The time commitment for these posts is currently 20 days a year including regular attendance at CRE meetings. These posts attract a rate of £160 per day (currently under review). The post holders will also be entitled to claim expenses at rates set centrally, for travel and subsistence costs incurred necessarily on CRE business.
- The Commission for Racial Equality is a non-departmental public body set up under the 1976 Race Relations Act. Its duties are to work towards the elimination of racial discrimination and promote equality of opportunity, to encourage good relations between people from different racial and ethnic backgrounds and to monitor the way the Race Relations Acts are working.
- The role of the Commissioners is to act collectively at either Commission or Commission Committee meetings in:
- ensuring that the organisation is delivering on its statutory duties;
- playing a key role in strategic discussions and policy formulation;
- relating to and liaising with NGOs and other NDPBs;
- making choices as to the equality targets on which the Commission should concentrate and the methods to be used to achieve objectives in those areas, including how to most effectively use enforcement powers;
- speaking for the CRE at conferences and seminars as appropriate;
- considering and approving the Commission’s annual budget;
- work with the new CEHR from 2007 to ensure a smooth transition in developing the new organisation; and
- preparing for the dissolution of CRE in 2009.
- The new Commissioners have been appointed to fill current positions which are vacant or where terms of appointment will expire at the end of March 2006.
- The Home Secretary appoints all Commissioners to the CRE. In line with the Race Relations Act, there should be between eight and fifteen Commissioners at the CRE, including a Chair and at least one Deputy.
- The Commission for Equality and Human Rights will be launched in October 2007. It will promote equality and tackle discrimination on the grounds of gender, race, disability, sexual orientation, age and religion or belief and will take on the work of two commissions - the Equal Opportunities Commission and Disability Rights Commission - from the start. Responsibility for race matters will be transferred from The Commission for Racial Equality in 2009.
- For further information contact the CRE’s press office on: 020 7939 0000 or visit: http://www.cre.gov.uk/about/commissioners.html (new window)
