Press release

Appointment and reappointment of members to the Prison Service Pay Review Body

The Secretary of State for Justice has announced the reappointment of Judith Gillespie and the appointment of Peter Dawson and Ken Mayhew to the Prison Service Pay Review Body.

The Secretary of State for Justice has announced the reappointment of Judith Gillespie and the appointment of Peter Dawson and Ken Mayhew as members to the Prison Service Pay Review Body (PSPRB). Judith Gillespie’s reappointment will be for a tenure of 1 year and will commence on 1 January 2025 until 31 December 2025. The appointments of Peter Dawson and Ken Mayhew will be for a tenure of 5 years from 3 December 2024 to 2 December 2029.

The PSPRB provides the government with independent advice on the remuneration of operational prison staff in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, as set out in The Prison Service (Pay Review Body) Regulations 2001 (SI 2001 No. 1161).

Appointments and re-appointments to the PSPRB are regulated by the Commissioner for Public Appointments. Appointments and Reappointments comply with the Cabinet Office Governance Code on Public Appointments.

Public appointments to the PSPRB are made by the Prime Minister.

Judith Gillespie

Judith Gillespie is a former senior police officer. She was the Deputy Chief Constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI). On leaving PSNI in March 2014 she became an independent leadership adviser, championing the cause of vulnerable victims and survivors. She has served on a number of public bodies, including the Equality Commission for NI, the Probation Board for NI and for five years as a founding member of the very first Garda Policing Authority in Dublin. She recently chaired the Inter Departmental Working Group on Mother and Baby Homes, Magdalene Laundries and Historical Clerical Child Abuse in NI.  She is currently an independent assessor for Diversity Mark and a Board member of Pivotal, Northern Ireland’s only public policy think tank. She was first appointed to the PSPRB in January 2020.

Peter Dawson

Peter Dawson is currently a Visiting Fellow at the University of Cambridge. He was the Director (CEO) of the Prison Reform Trust (2015 - 2023). He has spent the majority of his career in Government and the prison service, and he was previously Governor of HMP Downview and HMP High Down (2005 - 2012). He also served as Deputy Governor for HMP Brixton (2000 - 2003).  Before joining the Prison Reform Trust, he also worked in the private sector for Sodexo Justice Services.

Ken Mayhew

Professor Mayhew is currently Emeritus Fellow in Economics at Pembroke College, Oxford and Emeritus Professor of Education and Economic Performance at Oxford University. He also has a chair at Maastricht University in the Netherlands.  A labour economist, he has published widely in the field, and acted as consultant to many public and private sector organisations at home and abroad.  He was Economic Director of the former UK National Economic Development Office and Director of a designated ESRC research centre on Skills, Knowledge and Organisational Performance (SKOPE).  More recently, he was a member of the Armed Forces Pay Review Body (2014 -2021) and Director of the Oxford Review of Economic Policy Ltd (1990 - 2021).

All did not declare any political activity.

Updates to this page

Published 9 December 2024