Jill Helen Barrow (born 26 April 1951) is a British company director and former
public administrator
Public Administration (a form of governance) or Public Policy and Administration (an academic discipline) is the implementation of public policy, administration of government establishment (public governance), management of non-profit establ ...
.
Early life
Jill Helen Barrow was born on 26 April 1951, the daughter of Philip Eric Horwood and Mavis Mary, ''née'' Handscombe. She received a Certificate of Education from the
University of Durham
Durham University (legally the University of Durham) is a collegiate university, collegiate public university, public research university in Durham, England, Durham, England, founded by an Act of Parliament in 1832 and incorporated by royal charte ...
in 1972, and then completed a
Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...
(BA) degree at the
Open University
The Open University (OU) is a British public research university and the largest university in the United Kingdom by number of students. The majority of the OU's undergraduate students are based in the United Kingdom and principally study off- ...
in 1980, before returning to Durham and completed a
Master of Education
The Master of Education (MEd or M.Ed. or Ed.M.; Latin ''Magister Educationis'' or ''Educationis Magister'') is a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. This degree in education often includes the following majors: curriculum a ...
(MEd) course in 1983."Barrow, Jill Helen" ''Who's Who 2017'' (A & C Black; online edition, Oxford University Press, November 2016). Retrieved 13 November 2017.
Career
Barrow was a teacher in secondary schools and further education colleges between 1972 and 1986, when she began working in education management and inspection. Between 1990 and 1993, she was Director of Education at
Essex County Council
Essex County Council is the county council that governs the non-metropolitan county of Essex in England. It has 75 councillors, elected from 70 divisions, and is currently controlled by the Conservative Party. The council meets at County Hall ...
and then took up the same role at
Surrey County Council
Surrey County Council is the county council administering certain services in the non-metropolitan county of Surrey in England. The council is composed of 81 elected councillors, and in all but one election since 1965 the Conservative Party has ...
until 1995, when she was appointed Chief Executive of
Lincolnshire County Council
Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a Counties of England, county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-we ...
; she was the first woman to become the chief executive of a
county council
A county council is the elected administrative body governing an area known as a county. This term has slightly different meanings in different countries.
Ireland
The county councils created under British rule in 1899 continue to exist in Irela ...
in England.
Barrow left Lincolnshire CC in 1998, a year after the
Conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...
group on the Council secured a majority and took over from the
Labour
Labour or labor may refer to:
* Childbirth, the delivery of a baby
* Labour (human activity), or work
** Manual labour, physical work
** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer
** Organized labour and the labour ...
–
Liberal Democrat
Several political party, political parties from around the world have been called the Liberal Democratic Party or Liberal Democrats. These parties usually follow a liberal democracy, liberal democratic ideology.
Active parties
Former parties ...
coalition that had governed since 1993. According to the Leader of the Labour Group on the Council Rob Parker, the Conservative leadership, headed by Jim Speechley, began a "scorched earth" policy of removing coalition appointees from the council's executive. Barrow was given a severance payment amounting to £160,000.
KPMG
KPMG International Limited (or simply KPMG) is a multinational professional services network, and one of the Big Four accounting organizations.
Headquartered in Amstelveen, Netherlands, although incorporated in London, England, KPMG is a net ...
"Misuse of severance powers" ''Lincolnshire County Council: Report in the Public Interest'' (KPMG, 2 May 2002), p. 11. Retrieved 13 November 2017. Auditors later found this payment to be unlawful,Peter Hetherington "Lincolnshire Tories in disarray" ''The Guardian'', 6 October 2004. Retrieved 13 November 2017. also commenting on the "absence of justification for payments of such magnitude". Speechley was forced to resign as leader in 2002 and was jailed in 2004 over a separate incident, while his successor as leader,
New Opportunities Fund
The National Lottery Community Fund, legally named the Big Lottery Fund, is a non-departmental public body responsible for distributing funds raised by the National Lottery for "good causes". Since 2004 it has awarded over £9 billion to ...
from 1999 to 2004. Barrow was then a director at the consultancy firm GatenbySanderson until 2006, when she took up a directorship at the leadership consultancy company Big Blue Experience; as of 2016, she remains in that role.