South East England Development Agency (SEEDA)

Leader of Bracknell Forest Unitary Authority, Chairman, Environment Board and IDeA National Lead Peer

Born in Preston, Lancashire , 55 years ago, Paul has spent most of his life to date in the South of England. Paul has been married to Jean for 32 years, and they have two daughters, Clare (25) and Emily (23).

Having spent ten successful years with US based Rockwell International, before setting up his own successful business supplying printing equipment to the UK newspaper and general printing industry during the mid 1980s, Paul turned to local politics as his next challenge in 1991. He was elected to Sandhurst Town Council in May of that year, and to Bracknell Forest Borough Council at a by-election in October 1991. He rose first in the Town Council, becoming Deputy Mayor in 1992 and Mayor from 1993-1995. In 1996 Paul was elected Leader of the Conservative Group (then in opposition) at Bracknell Forest . In the elections in May 1997, Paul led the Conservative Group to victory, gaining the distinction of being the only Conservative Leader in the country to wrest power from Labour on what was generally not a good day for the Conservative cause!

Under Paul's leadership, the Conservative Group at Bracknell Forest managed a “seamless” transition to unitary status in 1998, and following many innovative local government initiatives, he led his Group to further gains in May 2000, 2003 and 2007 with swings to the Conservatives of twice the national average.

Paul is active within the LGA, and is firmly committed to local government representation at the highest level. From 2000 to 2002 he was Chairman of the LGA's Housing Executive and oversaw the introduction of many innovations in Bracknell Forest 's housing service. Paul believes fervently in local authorities' power of community wellbeing and asks, ‘What could be more fundamental to anyone's wellbeing than the roof over their head?' From 2002 – 2004 he chaired the LGA's Rural Commission and Executive, and was successful in persuading DEFRA that local government can play a key rôle in the delivery of the rural agenda in the post-Haskins era. He currently chairs the LGA Environment Board and also sits on the LGA Executive. Paul was, for five years, the Local Government Association e-Government Champion and is the Conservative Party's National spokesman on local government ICT matters. He has been on the Board of Directgov, Government Connect, and of the National Opportunity Card since 2005.

Located in the heart of the UK's “silicon valley” Paul's authority of Bracknell Forest is seen as the leading UK council in the area of electronic service delivery, with Bracknell Forest on-line, BF Net, a thriving CRM roll-out, and the world's first multi-application smartcard – e+. A long list of awards is testimony to his council's commitment to e-Government.

Paul chairs the Berkshire Leaders' Group, and represents Berkshire on SECL (South East County Leaders). He chairs the Environment themed partnership of IESE (Improvement and Efficiency South East) and is also Chairman of the Executive Board of IESE. He is also the chairman of the new regional Rural Board.

A firm believer in self-help for local government, Paul spent 18 months as a peer mentor to the Leader of the Conservative Group of Hackney LBC, and performed the same task for the Leader of Walsall MBC for 5 years. Paul has worked with Swindon Borough Council, Kingston upon Hull Council, North East Lincs Council, Plymouth Borough Council, Trafford MBC, Northampton Borough Council, Milton Keynes Borough Council, Southampton City Council and the Isle of Wight Council. He is the National Lead Conservative Member Peer at the Improvement & Development Agency (IDeA).

Paul retired from his business activities in 2004, and now devotes himself full-time to Local Government.

Alan studied forestry at Aberdeen University and worked overseas in Ethiopia and Central America before joining the Forestry Commission. After a short spell in Cumbria he has worked in the south east for the last 25 years. For seven years he was responsible for forest mapping and timber forecasting for England and completed an MSc in Remote Sensing during this time. In recent years he has acted as Regional Director with special responsibilities for grants, advice and licences to support privately owned woodland.

Harvey took up the post of Regional Director of the Southern region of the Environment Agency in October 2008.

Harvey’s background is in waste regulation where he worked in London for eight years before joining Kent County Council. As manager of waste regulation in Kent, Harvey was responsible for issues such as waste planning, regulation and enforcement. In 1996, Harvey joined the Environment Agency – Southern Region, as Area Waste Manager for Kent. Since then Harvey has taken a series of general manager roles within the Environment Agency. He worked in the Environment Agency’s Midlands and Anglian Regions before returning to Southern region.

Andy is currently Regional Director of English Heritage's South East Region, where he is responsible for the delivery of advice and grants for the conservation of some of the region's 300,000 nationally important historic assets. He also chairs the Regional Historic Environment Forum and is on the Board of Culture South East, the region's cultural consortium.

Andy trained as an archaeologist and has worked for English Heritage in several capacities, including preparing national conservation strategies for mining remains and for historic battlefields. Outside work, he enjoys cooking and cricket in any time left over from maintaining his 13 th century house in Kent .

Chris is the RSPB's Regional Director for South East England. He has been in the post since December 1998, prior to which he was the Senior Conservation Officer dealing with a wide range of planning and policy issues in the region. Chris has worked for the RSPB for 19 years (although he also worked as a volunteer on a number of RSPB reserves in the early 1990's).

Chris is also an environmental representative on the South East England Regional Assembly (SEERA) Executive Committee and is Chairman of the South East Forum for Sustainability (SEFS), the regional network of environmental NGO's.

He has also been an advisor to the South East England Development Agency (SEEDA) and is currently a member of the Steering Group for the Regional Economic Strategy. He also works with a number of other partners and has served on two Environment Agency regional committees since 1998 and since 2006 has been a member of the South East committee of the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF).

Outside work, Chris is interested in all aspects of natural history, particularly birds, but also enjoys walking and cycling. He has been a Council member of the Sussex Ornithological Society (SOS) and is currently Chairman of the scientific Committee. He is also a Governor at St Peters ' Primary School in Shoreham-by-Sea and a trustee of the Ibstock Cory Environmental Trust.

Mike is Head of Partnerships and Performance for Health at NHS South East Coast (the South East Coast Strategic Health Authority). Mike is responsible for developing strategic partnerships with the Regional Assembly, the Regional Development Agency, the Government Office and other regional stakeholders. Mike is also responsible for Emergency Planning, Decontamination Services and Public Health performance and is the lead for regeneration and spatial planning. Over the last two years Mike has led the NHS in the South East in responding to the consultation on the Regional Spatial Strategy (the South East Plan) and has worked with other partners including the London HUDU on spatial planning issues within the NHS.

Mike has also supported local authority members in developing their Health Scrutiny programmes and has previously worked for Surrey County Council as a Local Director and Kent County Council and Medway Council in various social care roles.

Councillor Pam Doodes has been a Wealden District Councillor for nine years. She is the Conservative member for Ninfield & Hooe with Wartling in the south of the district, and was elected Leader of the Council in May 2007. She has also served as a parish councillor for Ninfield, and has a strong background in Local Government administration and many years working in support of a range of charities.

Ray's varied career includes work in pathology in Portsmouth area hospitals, civil service (chemical inspectorate), nuclear energy development (at Sellafield and Dounreay), various posts in Higher Education culminating in Head of Division for analytical sciences in a Polytechnic and Head of Faculty in Teacher Education. During this period he worked as a consultant for ODA, British Council, Industrial Labour Organisation ( Geneva ), Asian Development Bank ( Philippines ) on international development projects, which culminated in a full time appointment as Human Resources Advisor in the World Bank ( Washington DC ).

Rays' political career began following his retirement, initially as a Borough Councillor in Fareham in 1999. Since 2001 he has served as County Councillor for the Fareham Town Division. He was appointed to the Cabinet in June 2008, after serving six years as Chairman of the Hampshire Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee (HOSC) and as Chairman of the Joint HOSC for the South Central SHA area. In addition, he represents Hampshire County Council on the Local Government Association (LGA) Rural Commission, National Rural Policy Group and the South East Employers Management and Executive Committees. He is also Chairman of the Governors' Finance Committee at Cams Hill School and a Governor of the Sir John Cass's Foundation Education Trust in the City of London . He serves on various local committees and charities, and is a member of the Rotary Club of Portsmouth North.

In July 2008 Ray was made a Freeman of the City of London . He undertook his PhD studies at Portsmouth Polytechnic and Southampton University .

Ray has a life-long interest in rural issues and outdoor pursuits.

Alan's childhood was spent moving back and forth between Edinburgh and India , before settling in rural Suffolk in the mid-1970ies. Alan grew up working and playing on farms, before returning to Scotland to study Zoology at St Andrews . After subsequently completing an MSc at Aberystwyth Alan worked with the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust at Martin Mere in Lancashire before joining English Nature's York Office in 1992. Thereafter Alan had spells working as a national Ornithologist, with JNCC, then leading English Nature's national Biodiversity programme, before moving to the South East, firstly as English Nature's Area, then Regional Director. Alan was appointed to Natural England's Executive Leadership Group in May 2006, with core responsibilities as Director for South East Region, national lead on Sustainable Land Use, and one of Natural England's five Diversity Champions.

Shaun Leavey

OBE Shaun currently serves as Chairman of the Defra Board overseeing implementation of the Sustainable Farming & Food Delivery Plan in the South East region, and as Chairman of the Farming & Rural Issues Group, since its inception from 1998. This work requires the management of SEEDA Sector Champion projects and reviewing regional work of Fresh Start Academy and English Food & Farming Partnership.

During the early to late 60s, Shaun served as an officer in the 4th/7th Royal Dragoon Guards, travelling to Germany , South Arabia, Persian Gulf, and Northern Ireland . Following this he moved into the farming sector, becoming a Farm Worker and later a Farm Manager in the early 70s in Skiathos , Greece . From 1971 to 2004, Shaun was the Regional Director South East for the National Farmers Union.

Shaun's voluntary work includes Chairman of the Hampshire County Council's Committee for Rural Hampshire, Member of the South Downs Joint Committee (Natural England appointee), and Member of the Independent Monitoring Board for Haslar Immigration Removal Centre.

He was awarded Associateship of the Royal Agricultural Society in 2005 and an OBE for services to agriculture and horticulture in 2005.

Jeremy is Chief Executive of Action in rural Sussex , a Sussex based Charity that supports rural community life in East Sussex and West Sussex . In particular AirS provides support for village halls, local affordable housing schemes, rural transport initiatives, village shops, local community based economic initiatives and local community care services as well as providing training for rural community organisations and lobbying to ensure that rural areas are not forgotten wherever public policy is being made or implemented.

Jeremy was Chair of the South East Rural Affairs Forum until 2008 when it was replaced by the new LSP based Rural Forum South East and was on the Government's Affordable Rural Housing Commission. He currently chairs the East Sussex Strategic Partnership, is Vice Chair South East Rural Community Councils and a Board member of Sussex Enterprise.

He completed an MBA with Kingston Business School for which he carried out a research study into Human Resource implications of teleworking.

Keith qualified as a Chartered Accountant in 1967 and enjoyed a successful career in publishing and professional education until selling his business interest in 1990 to enter public service. He has served as a County Councillor for the Bloxham Division since 1989. He has been leader of Oxfordshire County Council since 5 November 2001.

Keith served as Chairman of the South East England Regional Assembly from July 2005 to July 2008 and as Chairman of the English Regions Network, representing the 8 English Regions from July 2006 to July 2008. He has also served as Chairman of the South East County Leaders Group, comprising the eight county councils in the South East Region together with Essex, Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire.

In HM the Queen's 2007 Birthday Honours, Keith was appointed a Commander of the Most Excellent Order to the British Empire in recognition of services to local government.