Carolyn Downs
Carolyn Grace Downs CB (born 25 February 1960) is chief executive of Brent Council, London.[1][2] She is the principal policy advisor to the council and senior manager with responsibility for operational issues and overseeing the council's annual expenditure of around £1 billion.[3]
Biography[]
Downs has an MA in Library and Information Studies from UCL and began her career working in a council library.[4] Her career has included top jobs in several local councils. From 2003 to 2009, Downs was the first female chief executive of Shropshire County Council.[5][6] She had worked at the Council since 1999 and was previously a corporate director, which included having responsibility for Environmental Services.[7] During her tenure, the Shropshire County Council became the highest performing county council in the UK.[4]
She then worked as director general of corporate performance at the Ministry of Justice,[7] a position which included being seconded to the Legal Services Commission in March 2010 to take over as chief executive after Carolyn Regan resigned.[8] She was appointed chief executive of the Local Government Association in September 2011. She was awarded Companion of the Order of the Bath in the 2011 New Year's Honours list.[9]
In 2015, she was appointed as chief executive of Brent Council. Under Downs' leadership, Brent became LGC's Council of the Year and London Borough of Culture in 2020.[10] The programme included funds to support local people and organisations to produce cultural activities.[11][10][12] Downs has spoken out on the need for housing reform,[13] social care,[14] and poverty issues.[15]
References[]
- ^ "Carolyn Downs, Brent Council Housing: Profile and Biography". Bloomberg.com. Retrieved 2021-03-24.
- ^ "Downs, Carolyn Grace, (born 25 Feb. 1960), Chief Executive, Brent Council, since 2015". WHO'S WHO & WHO WAS WHO. 2007. doi:10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.U10000345. ISBN 978-0-19-954088-4. Retrieved 2021-08-17.
- ^ "Brent Council - Council Management Team". www.brent.gov.uk. Retrieved 2021-03-24.
- ^ a b Baksi, Catherine (5 August 2010). "Interview with LSC chief executive Carolyn Downs". Law Gazette. Retrieved 2021-03-24.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ King, Lorraine (2015-05-20). "Brent Council names its new chief executive as current head of the Local Government Association". Kilburn Times. Retrieved 2021-03-24.
- ^ "Tributes as county chief on move". www.shropshirestar.com. Retrieved 2021-03-24.
- ^ a b "Carolyn Downs, chief executive, Local Government Association". The Guardian. 2012-05-15. Retrieved 2021-08-17.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ Baksi, Catherine (9 September 2011). "Downs to leave LSC for top local government post". The Law Society Gazette.
- ^ "New Year Honours List 2011 in full". The Telegraph. Retrieved 2021-03-24.
- ^ a b Downs, Carolyn (2020-11-11). "Brent is an 'antidote to today's fractured society'". Local Government Chronicle (LGC). Retrieved 2021-03-24.
- ^ "Brent 2020: London Borough of Culture | Team London". www.london.gov.uk. Retrieved 2021-03-24.
- ^ "Brent 2020 promises to 'challenge definitions of culture'". ArtsProfessional. Retrieved 2021-03-24.
- ^ Downs, Carolyn (2017-11-22). "Carolyn Downs: Without housing reform our work is wasted". Local Government Chronicle (LGC). Retrieved 2021-03-24.
- ^ Downs, Carolyn. "The future health and social care system rests on 'combos', not 'trade-offs'". www.nhsconfed.org. Retrieved 2021-03-24.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ "Poverty Commission: Covid-19 highlights scale of deprivation in Brent". Harrow Times. Retrieved 2021-03-24.
- Living people
- Civil Service (United Kingdom)
- Chief executive officers
- Companions of the Order of the Bath
- Local government in the United Kingdom
- London Borough of Brent
- Alumni of University College London
- British government biography stubs
- 1960 births