Dame Julie Thérèse Mellor, DBE was appointed as Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration and the Health Service Commissioner for England (Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman) in January 2012.

The Ombudsman is mandated to consider complaints that public bodies have not acted fairly. As a watchdog body independent of government and accountable to Parliament, its constitutional role is delicate and complex. Dame Julie will discuss that role, and how best the Ombdusman can maximize its independence and impact as a check on executive power.

Dame Julie was the chair of the Equal Opportunities Commission between 1999 and 2005.
She was a partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers and a non executive board member of both the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and of the Green Alliance. She is former chair of the Employers' Forum on Disability and of the Fatherhood Institute. She is a former board member of the Commission for Racial Equality and the National Consumer Council.

Prior to her appointment as Chair of the Equal Opportunities Commission, Dame Julie was Corporate Human Resources Director for British Gas and has 20 years experience of human resources management in a wide range of environments, from the Greater London Council to Shell and TSB.

A light sandwich lunch will be available before the seminar from 12.30.