Membership

Members of the Youth Justice Board for England and Wales (YJB), how they are appointed and board meeting minutes.


The Board has corporate responsibility for ensuring that the YJB fulfils its strategic objectives, which are agreed with the Secretary of State for Justice, and for ensuring the efficient and effective use of staff and other resources.

The Chair and board members are appointed by the Secretary of State for Justice.

Board members

Our board members bring in experience and knowledge of areas including:

  • local councils
  • voluntary sector
  • youth justice and other youth services
  • policing
  • judiciary
  • education
  • health services

They are:

Keith Fraser (Chair)

In April 2020 Keith Fraser was appointed as Chair of the Youth Justice Board (YJB). Prior to that he was a YJB board member. Keith is also the Non-Executive Director/Trustee at The Work Force Development Trust Limited, Advisor for the National Police Chiefs Council Digital Engagement Project for Young People, and Chair of Employability UK. Prior to this, Keith was a Superintendent and Chief Inspector in the West Midlands Police, having joined as a Constable, during which time he produced the 2016-19 Preventing Gang Involvement and Youth Violence strategy.

Keith also produced the business plan for City of Wolverhampton council where he was the Chair of the authority’s statutory Youth Offending Management Board. He led an innovative preventative project, targeting over 7,000 children and young adults, working with Sport England and was the Strategic Police Lead for the Princes Trust across the West Midlands.

Brian Tytherleigh

Brian was appointed as a YJB board member in September 2017. Brian has been a member of the Audit Risk Committee at the Children’s Commissioner for England since 2016. From 2006 to 2016, he has held positions as Director of Operations at the National College of Teaching and Leadership and as Director of Business Development & Performance at the Children’s Workforce Development Council.

Duwayne Brooks OBE

Duwayne is currently the Chair of Trustees at Juvenis, A charity dedicated to improving the lives of children, diverting those who may be vulnerable to crime, exclusion from school and exploitation. Duwayne has been instrumental in youth engagement within policing for over a decade and was an associate at the College of Policing, working on improving youth engagement within policing at a local level across England and Wales. He has also held roles including member of the Metropolitan Police Stop and Search Strategy, Firearms and Taser Reference Groups as well as a Critical friend on Stop and Search at London Mayor’s Office of Policing and Crime. Duwayne has also served as an elected Councillor on Lewisham Council and spent 4 years as the lead member on the Safer Communities Board at the Local Government Association, leading on areas of work such as violence against women and girls (VAWG), Prevent, Probation, hate crime and antisocial behaviour.

Jacob Sakil

At the age of 16, Jacob was elected for a year’s tenure as Young Mayor of Lewisham. Since 2017 he has followed a career in Youth Work sharing his passion about ensuring children and young adults have an accessible and transparent avenue to engage in local democracy and civic life. Jacob is also the founder of American Bites start-up, Youth Justice Service representative and sits on the Business in the Community’s (BITC) Place Taskforce supporting the collaborative potential of business to strengthen communities around the UK.

Keith Towler

Keith was the Children’s Commissioner for Wales from 2008 to 2015, and, since then, has acted as an independent consultant for children and young people’s rights. Keith is Vice Chair of the National Independent Safeguarding Board for Wales and chairs the Council for Wales of Voluntary Youth Services (CWVYS). He was a member of the International Play Association Working Group which assisted the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, as well as the Family Justice Review. Keith has been a YJB board member since January 2018.

Louise Shorter

Louise is founder and investigator of Inside Justice, a registered charity which investigates alleged miscarriages of justice on behalf of prisoners who maintain their innocence. She is also a Board member of Inside Time, a not-for-profit newspaper for prisoners and an Associate Tutor at the School of Law, University of East Anglia.

Professor Neal Hazel

Neal is the Chair of Criminology and Criminal Justice at the University of Salford, following posts as Director of the Salford Institute for Public Policy and Director of the Centre for Social Research at the University. Neal is also former HM Deputy Chief Inspector of Probation for England and Wales. Neal has been a YJB board member since January 2018.

Phillip Bowen

Phil Bowen is Director of the Centre for Justice Innovation, leading the organisation and overseeing the implementation of its overarching strategy since 2012. During that time, he has been a policy fellow to 2 Lord Chancellors. Prior to running the Centre, Phil spent the majority of his career in the British civil service, working for the Home Office, Ministry of Justice, and as an adviser on criminal justice reform in the Prime Minister’s Delivery Unit.

Sharon Gray

Sharon is an Education Consultant at Wholehearted Learning. She is also an active member of the SEND London Leadership Strategy and ‘engage in their future’ representing special schools (young people experiencing severe SEMH - social, emotional and mental health difficulties) across the country. She has been a member of the MoJ Medway Improvement Board, a Head Teacher of special (SEMH) and mainstream schools, both primary and secondary for 18 years. Sharon has been a YJB board member since January 2018.

Susannah Hancock

Susannah is the Chief Operating Officer for the National Fire Chiefs Council. She was previously Chief Executive of the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) which represents PCCs and wider policing governance bodies across England and Wales. Before that she was Assistant Chief Executive of the national charity Victim Support, and Chief Executive for the Office of the Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner in Essex. Between 2004-2008, she served as Head of London for the YJB.

Board meeting minutes

The Board meets regularly throughout the year.

Read the Code of conduct for board members (PDF, 109 KB, 6 pages).

View the latest YJB Board Register of Interests (MS Excel Spreadsheet, 29.6 KB)

Senior Leadership Group

The YJB Senior Leadership Group (SLG) oversees delivery of the Corporate and Business Plan, reviews and monitors budgets, and identifies and manages risk.

Read the latest Annual Report and Accounts for more information on who they are and what they do.

Read the Framework document: Ministry of Justice and YJB (PDF, 187 KB, 22 pages). This document was drawn up by the Ministry of Justice with consultation with the YJB. It sets out the broad framework within which the YJB operates.

View the latest SLG Register of Interest (MS Excel Spreadsheet, 77.2 KB)