With the government looking to level up every region of the UK,
Minister for Women and Equalities, , today (10th October) announced that Katharine
Birbalsingh CBE is the preferred candidate for the role of Chair
of the Social Mobility Commission (SMC).
The appointment of Ms Birbalsingh will see a renewed focus from
the Commission on areas such as regional disparities, employment,
education and enterprise.
Ms Birbalsingh brings a wealth of experience to the role from the
UK’s education sector as the founder and headmistress of Michaela
Community School, a free school which was established in London
in 2014. The success of Michaela, including it’s positive impact
on ethnic minority children and the track record it has on social
mobility, were all part of the reason that Ms Birbalsingh was
considered the best candidate for the role.
In the 2020 Queen’s Birthday Honours Ms Birbalsingh was appointed
Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) for services
to education.
Minister for Women and Equalities, , said:
“This country has incredible potential and to unleash it we must
harness the talent of all our people, regardless of background or
where they live. I want Katharine to focus on education,
enterprise and employment so we can level-up opportunity across
Britain and give everyone the chance to succeed.
“By expecting high standards and not indulging the soft bigotry
of low expectations she is producing amazing results at Michaela
school and giving children the best chance in life. She will
bring that same attitude to the Commission and be a loud champion
of equality of opportunity.
“I am focused on closing the education gap, employment gap and
enterprise gap across Britain and am working closely with Cabinet
colleagues to do that. Our equality work will address the worries
that keep people up at night – like having a good job and getting
their child a good education – not tokenistic issues divorced
from their everyday concerns.”
Katharine Birbalsingh CBE, Headmistress of Michaela High
School, said:
“As we recover from the pandemic, this is the moment to develop a
culture in our society which provides an equal chance for all.
“From education, to early years in the home and onto the world of
work, improving social mobility is more vital than ever, and I
look forward to taking up this important role.
“My immediate priorities will include developing a sound evidence
base from which change can flow. On the one hand, I want to
inspire real action that will encourage people to seize the
opportunities available to them, and on the other, I want to
ensure that the government and other public bodies are delivering
on their commitments to providing such opportunities, so that we
really can ‘level up’ every region of the UK.”
Alongside the appointment of Ms Birbalsingh, the Minister for
Women & Equalities’ is also announcing her intention to
appoint Alun Francis as a Commissioner and the Deputy Chair of
the SMC. Mr Francis is currently the Principal and Chief
Executive of Oldham College where he has overseen its transition
into a focal point for the local community. Prior to that he
served as Director of Transforming Learning, leading Oldham
Council’s Building Schools for the Future Programme from
2007-2010.
Alun Francis, Principal & Chief Executive of Oldham
College, said:
“We have a unique opportunity to reshape social mobility policy,
so that it retains a focus on promoting merit and high
achievement, but delivers a wider variety of opportunities, for a
wider variety of people, in a wider variety of places.
“Our remit will cover education, employment and enterprise and I
am looking forward to working with Katharine and the Social
Mobility Commission to champion this agenda. We bring different
experiences and skills, but we have a common purpose and are
determined to help bring real benefits to people and places
across the country.”
The new leadership team of the SMC will make the case for social
mobility within and outside of government, oversee work to
strengthen the evidence base upon which policy decisions are made
and improve public understanding of how opportunity is created
and made accessible to all.
Before taking up the new role Ms Birbalsingh will give evidence
at a pre-appointment scrutiny session of the Women and Equalities
Select Committee; it is anticipated that this will take place in
the coming weeks.
The selection of a new Chair will be followed by a public
appointments campaign to appoint new Commissioners later in the
autumn. The campaign will ensure that there is a strong
functioning board as the tenures of all current Commissioners end
in late October.
