Libraries Commission - Commissioners' biographies
Councillor Florence Nosegbe (Chair): Cabinet Member for Culture, Sport and 2012 Games
Councillor Florence Nosegbe was elected to Lambeth Council in 2006 representing Brixton Hill Ward. She has held a number of key positions, including a term as the Chair of Housing Scrutiny Committee and Deputy Cabinet Member for Communities and Young People.
Florence has taken a leading role in local and national campaigns to encourage people from non-traditional and under-represented backgrounds to become involved in public life, politics and local decision making. Her first major role was overseeing the improvements in the Youth Service across Lambeth and leading on the election campaign for the borough's first Youth Mayor in November 2007. Florence served as the Chair of the council multi agency Youth Partnership Board and oversaw the launch of the refreshed Lambeth Youth Strategy in 2009.
Florence is the Cabinet Member for Culture, Sport and the 2012 Olympic Games and her role includes the responsibility for the boroughs 65 parks and open spaces, libraries, cultural and arts events, leisure centres, the registry service and the cemetery and crematoria service.
Florence is a board member of the Young Vic Theatre and the Streatham Women's Sewing Group.
Prior to her current role at Lambeth Council, she was a Policy Research Officer for the London Borough of Islington.
Councillor Peter Robbins: Cabinet Member for Children and Young People
Councillor Pete Robbins became a Labour councillor in 2006, when Labour bucked the national trend by winning control of Lambeth. He served as Chair of the Finance Scrutiny committee and Vice-Chair of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee for four years, and was the deputy whip for two years. In 2010 he managed Labour's successful campaign for re-election with an increased majority, the first time any administration has been re-elected in Lambeth for twenty years, and was subsequently elected to Cabinet by his colleagues in May 2010.
Pete is the Cabinet member for Children and Young People, with a portfolio that includes education, children's social care, and youth services. He is also a board member of Hyde Southbank Homes housing association, and is active in the Cooperative Party.
He previously worked for the University and College Union, and also spent four years working for Labour Members of Parliament in Westminster.
Councillor Jackie Meldrum: Deputy Leader
Jackie Meldrum is the Deputy Leader of the council, and represents the ward of Knight's Hill in the south of the borough. Jackie was originally elected to the Council in May 1998 and was the lead councillor for Libraries in 2001. As well as deputising for the Leader, Jackie is responsible for performance management, customer care & service improvements and takes a lead on all Human Resources issues. Jackie is an LGID (IDEA) peer and has visited over 10 local authorities in the critical friend role.
Sue Charteris: Public Policy Adviser
Sue is a public policy adviser specialising in local government. She is a non executive member of the Big Lottery Fund's England Committee.
Sue conducted the Public Inquiry into Wirral Councils public library service in 2009. Since then she has been working with councils to improve the sustainability of their public library services.
Sue is proud to have co-founded the Shared Intelligence consultancy, set up in 2000. As a Director of the consultancy Sue developed many highly respected programmes to help practitioners learn from one another including the National Association of Neighbourhood Management and the Race for Health network.
Sue now works more flexibly but continues to support individual leaders, elected councillors, council management teams and local partners on implementing change. She is currently working with Birmingham's new 'Ageing Well' Programme.
Sue's earlier career was as a local government manager. She was Chief Executive of the London Borough of Merton and before that an Executive Director (Corporate Resources) for Kirklees Metropolitan Council. She led the former government's Local Government Modernisation Team and was a Senior Associate Fellow at Warwick University Business School's Local Government Centre.
Sue holds a BA Honours with the Open University and an M.Phil from the University of Lancaster. She is currently participating in the Tavistock Institute's Programme Coaching for leadership and professional development.
Dawn Hill: Secretary, Black Cultural Archives
Dawn is an experienced consultant with a background in human resource management in the NHS and education. She is a partner in DJB Consultancy and has been engaged with the public consultation for a number of Academies (schools). Dawn has been a Non-Executive Director of Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust (GSTT) from 1999 to 2007, is currently a member of the GSTT Council of Governors and Chairs the Trust's Evelina Hospital School.
She is a member of the Chartered Institute for Personnel and Development and has worked at senior levels in the NHS, Social Services and Education and is also a former trained nurse (SRN).
She has been actively involved with voluntary community organisations over 30 years and for 20 years a Trustee of the Black Cultural Archives, currently working on the capital project to establish the first National Black Heritage Centre in Windrush Square in Brixton, Lambeth.
Carrie Bishop: Director, FutureGov
Carrie Bishop is a director at FutureGov, a consultancy and social innovation incubator specialising in new media for government in the UK and USA. She loves her job.
She has a background in Local Government, having worked at the London Borough of Barnet, first as a graduate on the NGDP in the role of Policy Officer and then as a Change Manager. She was responsible for piloting the first social media project at the council.
Carrie has also worked with several other local authorities and public bodies, having been a consultant at the public sector consultancy Capita Consulting.
Since joining FutureGov, Carrie has led projects focused on using social technologies for better collaboration, open innovation and organisational change. She led on the development and implementation of the Safeguarding 2.0 project, and is currently working on Simpl, the social innovation marketplace.
Follow Carrie on Twitter: @carriebish.
Laura Swaffield: Chairman, The Friends Of Lambeth Libraries
Laura Swaffield is a life-long public library user who has lived in north Lambeth since 1984. She is a journalist, working first (by chance) in the health area and then (also by chance) in libraries.
For about 15 years she has been the public library specialist at the magazine of the librarians' professional association, CILIP. She is now on the committee of the Friends groups for the Durning, Tate South Lambeth, Brixton and Streatham Vale libraries. She is chair of FOLL (Friends of Lambeth Libraries), the umbrella group for local Friends groups.
She edits the magazine of The Library Campaign, the national umbrella body.
Pam Gray: Secretary, The Friends Of Lambeth Libraries
Pam Gray is a representative for the Friends of Lambeth Libraries. Beginning library use at school, public libraries have continued to be important throughout her adult life - in Somerset and Bristol and, since 1978, in various inner London boroughs.
From 1999 her 'local' has been the unique independent jointly-funded Upper Norwood Joint Library - she is secretary of the friends' group, the Upper Norwood Library Campaign. While working for the DOE, the Historic Buildings Council and English Heritage, she was fortunate to also have access to an extensive work-based and historic library.
She comes to this Commission as a passionate library user.
Independent Advisor to the Commission
Martyn Allison: National Advisor Culture and Sport, Local Government Improvement and Development (LGID).
Martyn is currently National Advisor for culture and sport with Local Government Improvement and Development.
Martyn previously headed up the cultural service improvement unit within the IDeA jointly funded by DCMS, Sport England, Arts Council England, MLA and English Heritage.
Prior to his appointment in April 2005 Martyn was on secondment with Sport England to oversee the development and implementation of the TAES self assessment framework and support the wider development of the improvement agenda.
Before his secondment Martyn was Assistant Chief Executive with Leicester City Council where he has been responsible for corporate and performance management across the Council for over seven years.
Martyn's early career was spent in leisure and recreation management as Deputy and Director of Leisure at Leicester City Council, Chief Recreation Officer at Scunthorpe Borough Council, and head of outdoor sport at Coventry City Council.
He is currently the Chair of the Quest Board.