Chief Executive Officer, Charity Commission and Board member

David Holdsworth

Biography

David Holdsworth has been Chief Executive Officer of the Charity Commission since June 2024.

Prior to that, he served as Chief Executive Officer of the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA), the UK’s biosecurity agency. Before that, he was the Deputy Chief Executive Officer of the UK Intellectual Property Office (IPO), an executive agency of UK Government responsible for intellectual property rights in the UK.

Immediately prior to his role at the IPO, David was Deputy CEO and Registrar of Charities for England and Wales at the Charity Commission.

Before this, David spent over a decade at the Home Office in various roles including senior operational roles in the Immigration Service where he led several large UK wide transformation projects. He also held different policy roles in the Home Office and was Deputy Chief Caseworker.

David also spent 5 years in the private sector in senior executive positions of Managing Director and Partnership Director at two different FTSE 100 companies. He is a fellow of the Institute of Directors and a past Chairman of the Liverpool city region branch.

Chief Executive Officer, Charity Commission

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Charity Commission is responsible for its day-to-day management. This includes leading the commission’s senior management team.

The CEO also has delegated responsibility for making sure the commission:

  • carries out its statutory duties and responsibilities and exercises its legal powers appropriately
  • develops plans, programmes and policies for the board to approve
  • carries out the board’s strategies and plans for the future, including its contribution to legislative reform
  • carries out the commission’s services in line with targets and performance indicators agreed by the board

The CEO is accountable for the commission’s use of public funds, and reports on this to the Public Accounts Committee.

The Charity Commission

Board member

Charity Commission Board members are ultimately responsible for all that the commission does. They set the commission’s values, business direction and strategy and make sure it acts fairly, responsibly, transparently, proportionately and ethically. Board members see that the Commission maintains its integrity and independence. They identify and manage risks and listen and respond to stakeholders.

The Commission’s Board members also:

  • monitor how the Commission meets its statutory objectives and uses its legal powers
  • consider the Commission’s management team’s performance, governance standards and delivery against plans
  • focus on maximising the Commission’s impact and effectiveness
  • make sure the Commission uses public funds prudently

The Charity Commission

Previous roles in government

  • Interim Chief Executive
    • 2022 to 2024
  • Deputy CEO and Director of Operational Delivery
    • 2019 to 2022
  • Deputy Chief Executive
    • 2017 to 2019
  • Chief Operating Officer
    • 2015 to 2019