Statutory Panellists Assurance Committee Appointments

Following a competitive recruitment process, we are pleased to announce the appointment of four new members to our Statutory Panellists Assurance Committee (SPC), who will join from January 2021. The SPC has the responsibility to oversee the recruitment, development and discipline of the members of the Statutory Committees of the GDC, such as the Fitness to Practise and Registration Appeals panellists.

Sir Ross Cranston FBA joins the GDC as the Committee Chair. Sir Ross has enjoyed a very senior and varied career both within and outside of the judiciary and is currently a Professor of Law at the London School of Economics. From 1997 - 2004, he was the MP for Dudley North and, between 1998-2001, he also served as Solicitor General for England and Wales. Sir Ross sat as a High Court Judge and, as Judge in charge of the Administrative Court in 2016, he oversaw significant caseload delivery whilst improving performance. As Chair of the British and Irish Legal Information Institute (BAILLI) he oversaw the governance of the organisation and worked to improve the diversity of the Board. In 2019 – 2020 he carried out the Cranston Review into the compensation approach for victims of the HBOS Reading fraud.

Serbjit Kaur MBE joins the Committee as a registrant member and brings with her significant experience as a dental practitioner and practice owner, both in the NHS and private sectors. During her career in the dental sector, she has worked in the Department of Health and has held senior and central roles in NHS England as Deputy Chief Dental Officer (England) and Acting Chief Dental Officer (England) thereafter. She has represented UK dental interests at the European Commission. She has recently been appointed to the Board of an NHS Trust.

Carol Ashton joins the Committee as a lay member who has had a senior Executive career in Human Resources which has primarily in large, complex professional services businesses, across various sectors. She started her career in the Public Health Laboratory service and, in her final full-time role, she was the International HR director at the law firm DLA Piper. Carol has moved into a portfolio career and holds multiple non-executive appointments such as lay member on the Lord Chancellor's Recruitment Advisory Committee in the South West Region, and a member of the Chartered Institute of Marketing's Appointments and Remuneration Committee.

His Honour Phillip Sycamore joins the Committee as a lay member and has enjoyed a successful career, firstly as a solicitor and then in senior-level judicial roles, including in the High Court. As Deputy Vice President of Tribunals, he led on reform and establishing frameworks for training, appraisal, discipline and welfare for members of the judiciary. As President of the Law Society of England and Wales, he was involved in a range of regulatory matters affecting the solicitors’ profession. He was a Senior Commissioner, Judicial Appointments Commission from 2014 to 2020. He has extensive experience of professional regulatory matters both as a practitioner and as a judge.

As well as extending a warm welcome to the four new Committee Members, the GDC Chair, Dr William Moyes, would also like to take the opportunity to thank the outgoing Committee Chair Rosie Varley and Members Tim Skelton and Nigel Fisher, for their dedicated service to the organisation and wish them every success for the future.