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

  1. ↑ "Carolyn Downs, Brent Council Housing: Profile and Biography". Bloomberg.com. Retrieved 24 March 2021.
  2. ↑ "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 17 August 2021.
  3. ↑ "Brent Council - Council Management Team". www.brent.gov.uk. Retrieved 24 March 2021.
  4. 1 2 Baksi, Catherine (5 August 2010). "Interview with LSC chief executive Carolyn Downs". Law Gazette. Retrieved 24 March 2021.
  5. ↑ King, Lorraine (20 May 2015). "Brent Council names its new chief executive as current head of the Local Government Association". Kilburn Times. Retrieved 24 March 2021.
  6. ↑ "Tributes as county chief on move". www.shropshirestar.com. Retrieved 24 March 2021.
  7. 1 2 "Carolyn Downs, chief executive, Local Government Association". The Guardian. 15 May 2012. Archived from the original on 13 October 2015. Retrieved 17 August 2021.
  8. ↑ Baksi, Catherine (9 September 2011). "Downs to leave LSC for top local government post". The Law Society Gazette.
  9. ↑ "New Year Honours List 2011 in full". The Telegraph. Retrieved 24 March 2021.
  10. 1 2 Downs, Carolyn (11 November 2020). "Brent is an 'antidote to today's fractured society'". Local Government Chronicle (LGC). Retrieved 24 March 2021.
  11. ↑ "Brent 2020: London Borough of Culture | Team London". www.london.gov.uk. Retrieved 24 March 2021.
  12. ↑ "Brent 2020 promises to 'challenge definitions of culture'". ArtsProfessional. Retrieved 24 March 2021.
  13. ↑ Downs, Carolyn (22 November 2017). "Carolyn Downs: Without housing reform our work is wasted". Local Government Chronicle (LGC). Retrieved 24 March 2021.
  14. ↑ Downs, Carolyn. "The future health and social care system rests on 'combos', not 'trade-offs'". www.nhsconfed.org. Retrieved 24 March 2021.
  15. ↑ "Poverty Commission: Covid-19 highlights scale of deprivation in Brent". Harrow Times. Retrieved 24 March 2021.


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