Dame Janet Paraskeva, former first civil service commissioner, and ex-chief executive at the Law Society, has been announced as the lead non-executive director at the Government Legal Department.
She will chair the GLD board and has been joined by Tim Fallowfield, company secretary and corporate services director at J Sainsbury plc, who has been appointed a non-executive board member. The two new board members will serve for three years from 1 February 2024.
Treasury solicitor and GLD permanent secretary Susanna McGibbon, said the duo's "significant legal and professional expertise will be an asset to the department as we help the government to govern well, within the rule of law".
Paraskeva and Fallowfield replace Erica Handling and Catherine Berney, whose terms came to an end towards the end of 2023, both having served two terms.
The non-ministerial department was established in 2015 and has more than 3,000 lawyers and corporate support staff. It recently outlined a new strategy to become “an outstanding legal organisation, committed to the highest standards of service and professionalism in line with civil service reforms”. Last week the GLD announced the appointment of Richard Cornish, ex-chief executive of the MoD's Defence Business Services organisation, to the newly-created role of chief operating officer.
Paraskeva said she is "delighted" to take on the role and to support the GLD to deliver its "ambitious plan to modernise, improve, and build on the work of the last few years”.
Fallowfield said he is "looking forward to" joining the department as a non-executive board member and "supporting the team in achieving the department’s objectives".
They join current non-executive board member Mike Green on the GLD board.