Helen Edwards (born 2 August 1953) is a British

civil servant The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil servants hired on professional merit rather than appointed or elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leaders ...

, currently serving as the Director-General for Localism in the

Department for Communities and Local Government The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC), formerly the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG), is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for housing, communities, local government ...

Career

Having originally trained and worked as a social worker for

East Sussex County Council East Sussex County Council is the local authority for the non-metropolitan county of East Sussex. East Sussex is divided into five local government districts. Three are larger, rural, districts (from west to east: Lewes; Wealden; and Rother). ...

, Edwards worked for the

Save the Children Fund The Save the Children Fund, commonly known as Save the Children, is an international non-governmental organization established in the United Kingdom in 1919 to improve the lives of children through better education, health care, and economic ...

in the

London Borough of Lambeth Lambeth () is a London boroughs, London borough in South London, England, which forms part of Inner London. Its name was recorded in 1062 as ''Lambehitha'' ("landing place for lambs") and in 1255 as ''Lambeth''. The geographical centre of London ...

from 1980 to 1983. She then spent 18 years working at

Nacro Nacro is a social justice charity based in England and Wales, established in 1966 from the previous National Association of Discharged Prisoners’ Aid Societies, it became the largest criminal justice-related charity in England and Wales. In th ...

, the national crime reduction charity, where she undertook a variety of roles, ending up as Chief Executive. Edwards joined the Home Office in 2002 as Director of the Active Communities Directorate. From January 2004, she was promoted to the post of Director-General of the Communities Group where she was responsible for the Home Office's work on volunteering, the voluntary and community sector, race equality, faith, community cohesion and civil renewal. She took over as Chief Executive of

National Offender Management Service His Majesty's Prison and Probation Service is an executive agency of the Ministry of Justice (MOJ) responsible for the correctional services in England and Wales. It was created in 2004 as the National Offender Management Service (NOMS) by combin ...

(NOMS) on 10 November 2005, following the resignation of

Martin Narey Sir Martin James Narey DL (born 5 August 1955, in Middlesbrough) is an advisor to the British Government, and a former civil servant and charity executive. He served as director general of the Prison Service of England and Wales between 1998 and ...

. During this period, NOMS transferred from the Home Office to the Ministry of Justice, as part of a government reorganisation. On 1 April 2008, she became Director-General of Criminal Justice, with

Phil Wheatley Philip Martin Wheatley CB (born 4 July 1948) is a retired British civil servant, formerly the Director-General of the National Offender Management Service and before that, Director-General of HM Prison Service. Having attended Leeds Grammar School ...

taking on the role of Director-General of NOMS. She left this role in 2013, and was replaced by

Antonia Romeo Antonia Rebecca Caroline Romeo (''née'' Rice-Evans; born 20 October 1974) is a British civil servant. She is currently serving as the permanent secretary at the Ministry of Justice and Clerk of the Crown in Chancery. She was the permanent secr ...

. Edwards took up her role as Director General for Localism for the

(DCLG) on 7 May 2013, replacing David Prout. As of 2015, Edwards was paid a salary of between £165,000 and £169,999 by DCLG, making her one of the 328 most highly paid people in the British public sector at that time. In April 2016, Edwards took up the role of Chair of a new group of charities called Recovery Focus, which brings together a coalition of mental health and substance use charities such as

Richmond Fellowship Richmond Fellowship is a charity and voluntary sector provider of mental health services in England. Established in 1959, Richmond Fellowship serves over 9000 people in England every year. Richmond Fellowship offers a range of support to peopl ...

and Aquarius. On 12 November 2019, she was appointed a

non-executive director A non-executive director (abbreviated to non-exec, NED or NXD), independent director or external director is a member of the board of directors of a corporation, such as a company, cooperative or non-government organization, but not a member of the ...

of South London NHS Foundation Trust and began work in March 2020.

Personal life

Edwards has a BA in social science from the

University of Sussex , mottoeng = Be Still and Know , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £14.4 million (2020) , budget = £319.6 million (2019–20) , chancellor = Sanjeev Bhaskar , vice_chancellor = Sasha Roseneil , ...

and an MA and CQSW from the

University of Warwick The University of Warwick ( ; abbreviated as ''Warw.'' in post-nominal letters) is a public research university on the outskirts of Coventry between the West Midlands (county), West Midlands and Warwickshire, England. The university was founded i ...

, and an Honorary Doctorate from

Middlesex University Middlesex University London (legally Middlesex University and abbreviated MDX) is a public research university in Hendon, northwest London, England. The name of the university is taken from its location within the historic county boundaries ...

. She has been a Fellow of the

Royal Society of Arts The Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA), also known as the Royal Society of Arts, is a London-based organisation committed to finding practical solutions to social challenges. The RSA acronym is used m ...

since 1997, and a Trustee of the Washington-based Eisenhower Foundation since 2000. She married David John Rounds in 1987, with whom she has three sons. Edwards was appointed

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(CBE) in the 2001 New Year Honours and

Companion of the Order of the Bath Companion may refer to: Relationships Currently * Any of several interpersonal relationships such as friend or acquaintance * A domestic partner, akin to a spouse * Sober companion, an addiction treatment coach * Companion (caregiving), a caregive ...

(CB) in the 2012 Birthday Honours.

Offices held

References

1953 births Living people Second Permanent Under-Secretaries of State for Justice Civil servants in the Home Office Alumni of the University of Sussex Alumni of the University of Warwick British social workers Companions of the Order of the Bath Commanders of the Order of the British Empire {{UK-gov-bio-stub