IPSO has announced the appointment of Dame Julia Unwin to chair its independent Appointment Panel.
The Panel nominates IPSO’s Board members, including its Chair. Dame Julia will be leading the search for a new IPSO Chair to succeed Lord Faulks KC, added IPSO.
Dame Julia succeeds the Rt Hon Lord Triesman, Chair of the Panel from September 2021.
IPSO Chair Lord Faulks said: “I am delighted that Dame Julia Unwin will take up the role, which plays such a fundamental part in shaping how we nurture editorial standards and hold the press to account. She brings a wealth of experience from her work across civil society, charity leadership, and regulatory roles. This makes her the ideal person to lead the Appointment Panel’s work.
“I would also like to thank Lord Triesman for his excellent work as Chair of the Appointment Panel. His political and regulatory experience were invaluable to us over the last four years, and his legacy is a strong and independent Board.”
IPSO says Dame Julia Unwin is a widely respected leader with extensive experience as a non-executive director at both commercial and third-sector organisations. She currently Chairs the Board of Governors at York St John University and the Board of the Smart Data Foundry. She also acts as a non-executive director at Yorkshire Water. She chaired “Civil Society Futures”, an independent inquiry that ran from 2017-2019 as a national conversation about how English civil society can flourish in a fast-changing world. Prior to that she was Chief Executive of the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, a charity that conducts and funds research aimed at solving poverty in the UK (2007-2016).
Among her many public and private appointments, she has served as a non-executive director of Mears Group Plc (2015-2024); Deputy Chair of the Food Standards Agency (2003-2006); Lead Member of the Department for Communities and Local Government Capability Review (2007); a member of the Department for Trade and Industry Fair Markets Board and Audit Committee (2001-2006); Board Member of the National Consumer Council (2002-2006); Charity Commissioner (1998-2003); and Independent Adjudicator of the Audit Commission (2000-2003).
Dame Julia said: “I am pleased to be asked to lead the work of the Appointment Panel. Robust and independent regulation is vital to the credibility of the press. I hope that in chairing the panel, I will help to maintain the public’s faith in press regulation at this time of rapid change and challenge in the media landscape.
“Given the nature of IPSO’s role, it must meet the highest standards of independence, transparency, and public accountability. I look forward to working with my colleagues on the panel to make appointments that command the trust of the public and the press alike.”
IPSO says the Appointment Panel plays a crucial role in ensuring the organisation’s independence and effectiveness as press regulator.
The panel is responsible for appointing IPSO’s Board members – including the Chair – and the members of the Editors’ Code of Practice Committee. According to IPSO, it plays a pivotal role in delivering IPSO’s commitment to transparency, impartiality, and integrity in press standards.
Keep up-to-date with publishing news: sign up here for InPubWeekly, our free weekly e-newsletter.
