Valerie Georgina Howarth, Baroness Howarth of Breckland, (born 5 September 1940) is a British politician and a member of the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the Bicameralism, upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by Life peer, appointment, Hereditary peer, heredity or Lords Spiritual, official function. Like the ...

, sitting as a

crossbencher A crossbencher is an independent or minor party member of some legislatures, such as the British House of Lords and the Parliament of Australia. They take their name from the crossbenches, between and perpendicular to the government and oppositi ...

. She was made an OBE in the 1999

Birthday Honours The Birthday Honours, in some Commonwealth realms, mark the reigning British monarch's official birthday by granting various individuals appointment into national or dynastic orders or the award of decorations and medals. The honours are presen ...

, she was created a

life peer In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. In modern times, life peerages, always created at the rank of baron, are created under the Life Peerages ...

on 25 June 2001 with the title Baroness Howarth of Breckland, of

Parson Cross Firth Park ward—which includes the districts of Firth Park, Longley, Parson Cross and parts of Wincobank—is one of the 28 electoral wards in City of Sheffield, England located in the northern part of the city and covering an area ...

in the County of

South Yorkshire South Yorkshire is a ceremonial and metropolitan county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. The county has four council areas which are the cities of Doncaster and Sheffield as well as the boroughs of Barnsley and Rotherham. In N ...

. She is one of the board members of the

Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service The Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass) is a non-departmental public body in England set up to promote the welfare of children and families involved in family court. It was formed in April 2001 under the provisions ...

Early life

Howarth was born on 5 September 1940. She attended Abbeydale Girls’ Grammar School and the

University of Leicester , mottoeng = So that they may have life , established = , type = public research university , endowment = £20.0 million , budget = £326 million , chancellor = David Willetts , vice_chancellor = Nishan Canagarajah , head_labe ...

Career

Lady Howarth became the Chair of Cafcass (

) on 8 December 2008. Howarth is Former Chief Executive of ChildLine and also worked for many years at Chief Officer and Assistant Chief Officer level in social services departments. She serves on the board of the

Food Standards Agency , type = Non-ministerial government department , nativename = , nativename_a = , nativename_r = , logo = Food Standards Agency.svg , logo_width = , logo_caption = , seal = , seal_width = , seal_caption = , picture = , picture_width = , ...

, is a trustee for a number of Children's charities and a patron of the National Youth Advocacy Scheme. She was vice-chair of the

National Care Standards Commission The Healthcare Commission was a non-departmental public body sponsored by the Department of Health of the United Kingdom. It was set up to promote and drive improvement in the quality of health care and public health in England and Wales. It aimed ...

and is secretary to the All Parliamentary Children's Group.Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service

References

External links

Biography - UK Parliament
{{DEFAULTSORT:Howarth, Valerie 1940 births Living people Social workers British social workers People's peers Crossbench life peers Life peeresses created by Elizabeth II Politicians from Yorkshire Officers of the Order of the British Empire Place of birth missing (living people) People educated at Abbeydale Grange School Alumni of the University of Leicester